Last Good Movie You Saw

[TheMightyEthan]

I can't either, but I guess I would just say there aren't many good comedies so maybe I'm actually the one that's hard to please.  I'm okay with stuff just being enjoyable to watch, but if it's advertised as a comedy I want it to be FUNNY.

[Strangelove]

Honestly, comedy is probably my favorite genre of film, but I really dont often laugh out loud. I can find a lot of stuff funny, but I wont laugh audibly. I dont know, I just feel that theres different kinds or levels of funny, but one isnt worse than the other. Kind of like wit or slapstick, both types of humor, but very different. Slapstick will make your belly hurt, but youd be hardpressed to find someone who thinks its better than a clever perfectly timed joke. Ill laugh out loud to early Simpsons episodes, but I hardly ever laugh out loud when Im watching Arrested Development. Unless it's Gob. But theyre both great shows. Theyre both good.

 

That being said, the only movie that Ive ever seen where I laughed loudly like a maniac constantly was Borat. When it came out I thought it was the funniest movie ever. Clever in it's stupidity.

[TheMightyEthan]

I will admit that I laugh out loud at movies when I think other people will often just not.  Like I'll laugh out loud at shit like The Importance of Being Earnest.

[Waldorf and Statler]

Im waiting to see if W&S saw the 300 sequel. He saw the new Robocop, so I figured he'd watch this other homoerotic piece of originality too.

I did actually. But it would go in the OK films. Watched it with my bro as we drank beer and ate popcorn in Alamo Drafthouse at midnight opening weekend. It was packed.

 

Long story short: it featured a lot of 'naval' warfare, it was more of an interquel, and it set up a sequel. Was thoroughly entertained but it'd get a 7/10 at best.

[deanb]

Ender's Game

 

Kinda surprised, though most of the past things I'd heard about the film was about Orson Scott Card being a homophobe and not of that really plays out in the film itself. Considering the game itself mostly has kids in it apart from a couple most of them are pretty good, and obviously Ford and Kingsley there to help prop them up. I'd say I only have three major beefs with it:

1) the ending falls a bit flat/anticlimatic. But it would be due to seemingly setting it up for a sequel (There's quite a few books it'd seem)

2) there's a bit at the end where

 

they beat the graduation battle sim and stuff happens then ender flips out at it being real, and I scrubbed back and replayed and there's not much said or done that gives that impression. I guess maybe more subtle acting going on than my phone screen allowed for.

 

3) I feel it might actually have worked as a really good TV series. Expanding upon parts of it some more, spending more time on the morality of using kids in games, bit more time to spend on character building for everyone else.

[TheMightyEthan]

2) there's a bit at the end where

 

they beat the graduation battle sim and stuff happens then ender flips out at it being real, and I scrubbed back and replayed and there's not much said or done that gives that impression. I guess maybe more subtle acting going on than my phone screen allowed for.

 

I haven't seen the movie, but in the book

after the final battle Rackham just flat out tells him it was real.

 

[deanb]

 

yeah after Ender flips out it's made quite clear it was real. But it's the ensuing bit between beating the "simulation" and Ender flipping out that doesn't quite convey that it wasn't just a simulation. Especially as some dialogue with ...original guy/kingsley directly after the sim is still talking about beating his games/simulations. Once you know it was real you can go back and it's a bit more obvious, but initially it took a bit too long for the penny to drop. Might just have been a slow day for me though.

 

[CorgiShinobi]

Speak of, when I watched it a month ago, and this is coming from someone who hasn't read the books...

 

 

before the reveal that it was a real battle, I said to my family, "I bet this is actually the real battle." The way it was presented and how it was more dynamic. Sure it was the "graduation" simulation, but the whole movie was about how Ender kept being subtlety tested and there almost always being an ulterior motive. Not to mention Ender was playing suicidal and it would be the most eff'd up thing to happen.

 

I do agree that the reveal should have been more direct as it would have made Ender's freak-out more powerful rather than him frantically unsure of what exactly he did with some adults acting like mannequins. Still, it gets the point across and according to some folk I know who have read most of the books, it's going down the right path for a sequel.

 

[madbassman39]

I read the book, and thought the movie was a good summary of the book. I enjoyed it, but I had kind of felt that a lot of the impact and intensity would have been lost if you hadn't read the book.

 

I made my girlfriend read the book, and she loved it. Then we watched the movie right after, and she hated the movie, saying they messed somethings up from the book.

 

I think her complaints were identical to my complaints about the first Hunger Games movie, which I had just finished the book before I saw the movie.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I read the book a while back so I was all "That's a nice refresher" as well. But friends who read it more throughout their lives were bitching.

[Hot Heart]

Captain America 2: Winter Is Coming

 

Really enjoyed it. Decent blend of comic book action and thriller. Probably my third favourite of the MCU films.

 

Does a good job of fleshing out some of the non-supers a bit more as well as Cap himself. There are a few hokey moments/things, and I'm sure you could pick apart the plot if you wanted, but it's a very entertaining watch while it zips along.

 

Compared to some of the other Marvel films, I think more is reliant on/there is more to gain from having seen the earlier stuff. We're not talking just Captain America 2 and The Avengers but also little connections to Iron Man 2 and even the One-Shots. Plus, a lot of important stuff happens and it seems to set up a fair few things for the future of the MCU (not just in the mid-credits scene). I'll put those more for general discussion in the appropriate thread though.

 

p.s. Stan Lee cameo was great

Edited March 29, 2014 by Hot Heart

[Mister Jack]

I saw Captain America 2 and thought it was pretty good.  Unfortunately, the sound in the theater cut out during what was probably the most important scene in the movie (you probably know which one) and so for the second half I was having trouble understanding what was going on and it kinda ruined the experience for me.

 

At least the theater had the decency to give out free tickets afterwards.

[TheMightyEthan]

There was an annoying little kid, probably 2 or 3 years old, whining of and on throughout my showing. The mom at least had the decency to take him out of the theater each time, but she always waited too long before she did, and always brought him back in.

[deanb]

I should probably give my boss some extra credit then for enquiring with me if Cap 2 would be alright for his two 9 year old daughters. My main thing was that it's a bit espionagey that would likely go over their heads. Suggested Muppets/Rio instead (turns out he dislikes Muppets, but quite enjoyed first Rio)

[Mister Jack]

Who the fuck hates the Muppets and prefers Rio?!

[CorgiShinobi]

Both movies are good, but also have sequels that I'm not overly fond of seeing in theaters anytime soon.

[deanb]

I can understand the Muppets thing from a kind of "freaked out by the muppets" sort of angle.

[TCP]

MILLION DOLLAR IDEA: A movie theatre you have to have a membership too, like Costco! It'll be like pubs that don't allow anyone below 19 (or 21 in the USA) into, and if you are rude/disruptive you can have your membership permanently revoked. 

[Hot Heart]

The Raid

 

Friends were arranging to go and see the sequel this weekend, so I figured I should really get around to watching the first one.

 

So, yeah, really good action film. Decent nuts-and-bolts story, well-directed and choreographed action. The speed and credibleness of things is remarkable, and there are lots of cool moments in there if not quite as thrilling as some other action films I've seen.

 

However, some of the action scenes were just that bit too long. I mean, the Mad Dog/Sergeant scene may have run a tad long but had a proper sense of purpose and was a good 'knock-down, drag-out' fight, but the few bits after were just the latter. There are only so many times you can watch arm grab/twist round/blocked punch/arm grab/twist round, etc. or thrown-down/avoid blow/kick back/knock on ground, etc. before you just want the thing done with; especially when the outcome is already so predictable and with a poor plothole-y setup.

 

But, yeah, definitely an action film worth seeing. And I look forward to the wider scope of the sequel.

[Hot Heart]

The Raid 2.

 

Much better than the original in many respects, though be warned that this is no longer a taut, tower block-based actioner but a two-and-a-half-hour crime story (set over a few years) with plenty of talking as well as lots of martial arts (and a car chase) mixed in. It goes to the usual tropes of warring crime syndicates and all that implies (if you've played Sleeping Dogs recently, it'll be very familiar) but the direction is quite superb, and the choreography even better. It introduces a lot more interesting characters and 'scenarios', with only one fight scene dragging on a bit longer than it should. But then it is 'the final boss', so whatever.

 

The action is actually even more brutal in some regards, and I found myself gritting my teeth a lot more at all the grievous injuries being incurred, but it's so over-the-top that it's amusing in some ways. Could be that I'm a sicko. The writing and acting are better this time around, too, and while that may not seem important for a martial arts/action film, it certainly helps with the aforementioned runtime and amount of talking.

 

p.s. Uco is totally Indonesian Joseph Gordon-Levitt

[deanb]

Riddick

 

Watched this with my Dad (step-mum left early on to watch Ghost in other room). I thought my dad had seen the previous two, turns out not, but he might be interested in giving them a shot. The main draw for him watching this is he's a Fast n Furious fan, so knew of Vin Diesel.

 

T'was pretty good, at least from my perspective. Probably took a bit too long on the set-up if you're not someone aware it's the 3rd film and were going in as if it was a new film. People don't turn up for nearly half the film. Seeing Riddick become un-"civilized" is all kinds of cool though for long term fans. My main issue would be if you've not seen Pitch Black recent enough to remember in some semblance of detail then chunks of the dialogue will be a bit "huh?". Also for the most part it is very much Pitch Black, though it mostly just seems to be a case of Diesel trying to bring the series back to it's (better performing at cinema) roots a bit before diving into the Necromonger/Underverse lore that Chronicles introduced.

 

 

Other film I watched was Iron Giant. I hadn't seen it previously though I've always heard good praise for it. Certainly a rather well done film. I like the animation style, very much the kind I remember as a kid in the not-Disney films of youth like Rats of NIMH, All Dogs Go to Heaven types. Those films that gave a bit of a spook and lesson to the kids. In this case "you're who you choose to be". Also it has been over a decade since I read the book, but wasn't there some black spot on the sun/bigger bad in the book that Iron Giant fought and not a nuke? (Which would be my only pedantic complaint with the film since nukes don't explode on impact).

[Mal]

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki AKA Wolf Children

 

I had this download for ages and I finally went in not knowing what to expect since I forgotten why I even downloaded it in the first place. Well, I found out with this feeling in my heart. I also witness the best mom. She made many mistakes and blunders on her part but she tries and give it her all. From my observations, that is what makes a good parent since hell, isn't everybody winging it?

I recommend it if you want a heartwarming story.

 

And no, not furry fantasy but I think it is time to go back to the usual...

[Waldorf and Statler]

I saw Wolf Children. I posted impressions in GAF. It was very good and a close enough tale to something you could see from an anime Disney, if they explored a PG-13 topic. I didn't think it was as amazing as others put, but it was very good.

[TheRevanchist]

Moonrise Kingdom. The cinematography was outstanding. At first, I thought this was a bit disjointed, but the collage of images comes together very quickly to let you know what is happening.

[staySICK]

Captain America Winter Soldier. 

 

very good.