Recently Watched Movie Thread 2017 | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Recently Watched Movie Thread 2017

War for the Planet of the Apes - Darn solid action flick to continue the revived Apes saga. Really quite quality and entertaining. Solid direction (we'll see now what Reeves can do with The Batman), great visual effects, interesting story and villain, and some well developed characters and plot beats. 8 toes in out of 10!
 
Mano said:
War for the Planet of the Apes
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I enjoyed it also. The story line was nothing like I thought it would be, but that was not a problem.

Did you happen to watch any of the extra features after the movie? There was a segment that looked at Caesar's journey during the course of the 3 movies. I was awestruck at how much CGI has improved during the 6 or 7 years from the first to the third movie in the series.
 
Finally saw "Atomic Blonde." Several brutal, visceral fight scenes. Fairly action packed, lots of twists. I enjoyed it.
 
"The Foreigner." I don't think I've ever seen Jackie Chan in a role that didn't have some humor or lighthearted moments. His character was totally somber and this was a straight forward action/drama. He was really good, especially playing against Pierce Brosnan in several scenes. Chan's daughter is killed in a bombing in London. He thinks Brosnan's character has some answers about who is responsible, and he will stop at nothing to find out and bring them to justice. He's a bit like Liam Neeson's man w/ a "particular skill set," but not quite as ridiculous.
 
If not mentioned yet, Brawl In Cell Block 99, whoa! Almost like a throwback grindhouse type movie. Some very cringe worthy gruesome scenes. Vince Vaughan (kudos for the range on this one) kicks some serious @ss. Not amazing, but definitely worth the watch and not for the feeble. Don't bring a first date to this one.
 
The new King Arthur was on HBO yesterday. Not a good movie, but entertaining enough. It definitely didn't deserve the terrible reviews it got.
 
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JMick said:
It definitely didn't deserve the terrible reviews it got.
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I have felt that way about many films over the years, including this one.
 
JMick said:
The new King Arthur was on HBO yesterday. Not a good movie, but entertaining enough. It definitely didn't deserve the terrible reviews it got.
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Agree 100%. I don't know where the hate for this movie came from. It was a serviceable big budget action flick.
 
Kingsman: The Golden Circle - I totally wasn't expecting this to be as good as the first, and it wasn't, but it was still entertaining in it's own right. I enjoyed Julianne Moore as the villain and the Statesman subplot, although it felt a little underutilized, was still enjoyable and opened up a wealth of possibilities. The fight scenes were again excellent and really well done in terms of blurring what's green screen, CGI, stunt doubles, editing tricks and what have you. Nothing will ever top the Church Massacre from the first one though... if ever there is a Best Fight Scenes thread, that'll be my contribution. Anyway, I guess my only real problem with it was that it felt a little telegraphed in where it was heading since it was a bit derivative of the first film.

Dunkirk - I am a big Nolan fan. His films have been of consistently high quality going all the way back to the beginning and I've found myself anticipating even the announcement of what he's going to be working on greatly. This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I felt the tension he was going for in some scenes. The consequences and desperation were well put on the screen. What was off for me was the scale. I appreciate filmmakers that go for the practical effect over using CGI more often than not... the capsizing of the boats and a lot of the naval scenes were very well done and immersive. But some of the scenes just felt too small scale to me at times. Too tight and constricted. I might be alone in this, but it never felt like I was looking at 400k troops standing around on a beach, hopelessly waiting to be rescued. Some wide establishing shots to set the scale of the events would have really helped me in enveloping me in the enormity of the stakes. I know that would've been a little difficult since his camera was specifically trying to follow a few actors in the events but it would've been well worth it for the story I think.
 
Mano said:
Kingsman: The Golden Circle - I totally wasn't expecting this to be as good as the first, and it wasn't, but it was still entertaining in it's own right. I enjoyed Julianne Moore as the villain and the Statesman subplot, although it felt a little underutilized, was still enjoyable and opened up a wealth of possibilities. The fight scenes were again excellent and really well done in terms of blurring what's green screen, CGI, stunt doubles, editing tricks and what have you. Nothing will ever top the Church Massacre from the first one though... if ever there is a Best Fight Scenes thread, that'll be my contribution. Anyway, I guess my only real problem with it was that it felt a little telegraphed in where it was heading since it was a bit derivative of the first film.

Dunkirk - I am a big Nolan fan. His films have been of consistently high quality going all the way back to the beginning and I've found myself anticipating even the announcement of what he's going to be working on greatly. This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I felt the tension he was going for in some scenes. The consequences and desperation were well put on the screen. What was off for me was the scale. I appreciate filmmakers that go for the practical effect over using CGI more often than not... the capsizing of the boats and a lot of the naval scenes were very well done and immersive. But some of the scenes just felt too small scale to me at times. Too tight and constricted. I might be alone in this, but it never felt like I was looking at 400k troops standing around on a beach, hopelessly waiting to be rescued. Some wide establishing shots to set the scale of the events would have really helped me in enveloping me in the enormity of the stakes. I know that would've been a little difficult since his camera was specifically trying to follow a few actors in the events but it would've been well worth it for the story I think.
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I recently saw Dunkirk as well. While I wouldn't call it a disappointment, I more or less agree with the gist of this review. It is well done and all, and I would give it a positive review. Still, the small scale of it did bother me to an extent, and an hour and a half into the film I was thinking that with all the scenarios being presented being in such difficulty, I'm wondering when are they going to get around to rescuing 300,000 troops. For me the best scene in the film was Kenneth Branagh on the dock looking out into the English Channel, and seeing the mass flotilla of small boats finally coming to evacuate the troops. That scene finally captured the scale of what was going on at Dunkirk, and made me feel more positive about what I was watching. But after that it was pretty much back to the tight focus of the small stories that were being followed.
 
Mano said:
Kingsman: The Golden Circle - I totally wasn't expecting this to be as good as the first, and it wasn't, but it was still entertaining in it's own right. I enjoyed Julianne Moore as the villain and the Statesman subplot, although it felt a little underutilized, was still enjoyable and opened up a wealth of possibilities. The fight scenes were again excellent and really well done in terms of blurring what's green screen, CGI, stunt doubles, editing tricks and what have you. Nothing will ever top the Church Massacre from the first one though... if ever there is a Best Fight Scenes thread, that'll be my contribution. Anyway, I guess my only real problem with it was that it felt a little telegraphed in where it was heading since it was a bit derivative of the first film.

Dunkirk - I am a big Nolan fan. His films have been of consistently high quality going all the way back to the beginning and I've found myself anticipating even the announcement of what he's going to be working on greatly. This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I felt the tension he was going for in some scenes. The consequences and desperation were well put on the screen. What was off for me was the scale. I appreciate filmmakers that go for the practical effect over using CGI more often than not... the capsizing of the boats and a lot of the naval scenes were very well done and immersive. But some of the scenes just felt too small scale to me at times. Too tight and constricted. I might be alone in this, but it never felt like I was looking at 400k troops standing around on a beach, hopelessly waiting to be rescued. Some wide establishing shots to set the scale of the events would have really helped me in enveloping me in the enormity of the stakes. I know that would've been a little difficult since his camera was specifically trying to follow a few actors in the events but it would've been well worth it for the story I think.
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I didn't really have a reaction to Dunkirk. It ended and all I could think was "that's it?"
 
The Foreigner with Jackie Chan. Really good action revenge movie.

The Post is real good.

Darkest Hour is excellent. Oldham should win an Oscar.

Dunkirk sucked.
 
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It - I'm not generally a fan of horror movies. I don't really scare easily and the majority of them are usually just subpar in many different aspects. There are some good ones (28 Days Later, Cabin in the Woods, The Crazies, etc) and I find they usually rely on mood and atmosphere with a decent dose of creepiness and misdirection. I'm not a reader of Stephen King's books and I've heard the ending of the book and original mini-series (haven't seen it) are disappointing. They split the original novel into two parts and it seems that it was a wise choice. This though, this was fantastic. It kept me at rapt attention throughout and Pennywise (great performance by one of the Skarsgård's) was a wonderfully realized malevolent creature preying on these kids. His reveal for each individual kid really kept the pace of the movie at a great clip. Really, really good. Can't wait for the sequel, even if it ends up a disappointment.
 
agree about Darkest Hour.

Just watched Detroit on DVD - not sure what I was expecting, but wasn't impressed. Some of the cast was very very good, but it felt very heavy-handed and I think it could have been shortened quite a bit. Based on a true story of police brutality.
 
Here are a few I've seen recently with short thoughts.
  • Dunkirk. Thought it was very good. But maybe not everyone gets how astonishing it was. How massive and unprecedented. Loved the approach to telling the story, shifting people and time.
  • Blade Runner 2049. At least 40 minutes too long. Tedious, especially the first hour, which drags. Has some positives, but overall was disappointing.
  • It. Good, but not all that. Wasn't scary. I liked the kids. I hated that all the kids had completely dysfunctional or useless parents. Skarsgard was good.
  • Atomic Blonde. Better than expected. Fun action/espionage movie with a bad ass female heroine.
  • Hitman's Bodyguard. Really a lot of fun. Very funny and plenty of action. The pacing is great and the interplay between Jackson and Reynolds is perfect.
 
Thanks to @whaler11 for cluing me in to the Xfinity remote's great movie guide feature a few months ago, I have been watching a ton more movies simply because it is much more easy to browse them. Rewatched two classics recently, Rocky the other night and The Deer Hunter last night.

Both as tremendously compelling as I remembered, but the thing about which I am constantly reminded now is how much patience is lacking in most current day movies. I mean, the wedding scene alone in The Deer Hunter is longer than many movies. And it is so nuanced and foreshadows so much. As I watched I couldn't help but wonder if a single one of my kids could make it through the movie. Also still very tough to watch many of the torture scenes.

What a stacked cast and amazingly layered movie though. They truly don't make 'em like that any more.
 
8893 said:
Thanks to @whaler11 for cluing me in to the Xfinity remote's great movie guide feature a few months ago, I have been watching a ton more movies simply because it is much more easy to browse them. Rewatched two classics recently, Rocky the other night and The Deer Hunter last night.

Both as tremendously compelling as I remembered, but the thing about which I am constantly reminded now is how much patience is lacking in most current day movies. I mean, the wedding scene alone in The Deer Hunter is longer than many movies. And it is so nuanced and foreshadows so much. As I watched I couldn't help but wonder if a single one of my kids could make it through the movie. Also still very tough to watch many of the torture scenes.

What a stacked cast and amazingly layered movie though. They truly don't make 'em like that any more.
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Did you just get Comcast? The Deer Hunter is my all-time favorite movie, watch it once or twice a year.
 
Lady Bird is one of the best coming of age movies I've ever seen. Saoirse Ronan and Tracy Letts wife were amazing in the leads.
 
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I tried watching The Deer Hunter a year or two ago. I couldn't make it through. I just fast forwarded to the good scenery parts. I'd noticed that when I saw a bit of it on tv before. That part of the movie kills me. They are supposedly in Pennsylvania or upstate New York or something when they go hunting, right? Yet magically there are large, heavily glaciated mountains around, which the East Coast has exactly zero of said type of mountain. I know, artistic license and all that, but I had to call B.S. on that. I recognized the scenery, it was filmed around Mt. Baker in Washington, up near the Canadian border.
 
superjohn said:
Did you just get Comcast? The Deer Hunter is my all-time favorite movie, watch it once or twice a year.
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No, I've had Comcast forever and have had the new remote for a year or so but never knew about the feature that allows you to switch the guide only to movies that are on right then and scroll through them (along with their Rotten Tomatoes ratings and other stuff) like you are at a video store, until Whaler mentioned it a few months ago when @August_West and I were raving about the sports app feature, which I was aware of instantly when I got the remote and use daily as well.

Yeah, The Deer Hunter is up there for me, too. I used to watch it every year or so but I realized last night that it's been a while now since I last saw it, so I seemed to have even greater appreciation for it and how different it is than the vast majority of movies that are made now.
 
superjohn said:
Lady Bird is one of the best coming of age movies I've ever seen. Saoirse Ronan and Tracy Letts wife were amazing in the leads.
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I agree. I've seen it twice. Saw it by myself the first time and then I insisted that my wife and two oldest daughters watch it with me; they loved it, too.
 
The Big Sick - great reviews, was looking forward to it...main character Kamail was likeable, couple funny lines, but thought it overall kinda sucked. 2 1/2 hours of mostly boring.
 
Mother! - Man, a couple days after having watched it and I’m still not sure what to make of this movie. It did a sublime job with its mystery and tension (filmed in a forced POV that further kept you guessing) during its first two acts. And it gave plenty of clues as to its true nature along the way. And then the 3rd act comes
and it goes completely allegorical, when it only hinted at it at first. The intensity of these scenes were very well done but upon reflection the actual events feel a bit cheap and played for shock value.
 
G0UCONN said:
The Big Sick - great reviews, was looking forward to it...main character Kamail was likeable, couple funny lines, but thought it overall kinda sucked. 2 1/2 hours of mostly boring.
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I just got through watching The Big Sick as well, a flick that I have been eagerly waiting to see. I did not find it boring at all, although in my mind the great reviews this film have overstated a bit the quality of this movie. It is low key, charming, and kept my interest throughout. I don't think it is a great film, but it is solidly good. Enjoyed the supporting stints of Holly Hunter and Ray Romano as the parents of the girl friend.
 
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dbmill said:
I just got through watching The Big Sick as well, a flick that I have been eagerly waiting to see. I did not find it boring at all, although in my mind the great reviews this film have overstated a bit the quality of this movie. It is low key, charming, and kept my interest throughout. I don't think it is a great film, but it is solidly good. Enjoyed the supporting stints of Holly Hunter and Ray Romano as the parents of the girl friend.
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Yeah maybe I was a bit harsh but was expecting really good to great based on the reviews and think it was OK at best. I don't get the must-see type of reviews at all.
 
Saw Hostiles today. Excellent western. Christian Bale is great in it.
 
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Super Dark Times was kinda interesting. Mrs Dove and I were bored and tired after moving my mother out of a house. Now the more I think about it the movie was stupid.
 
Watched American Made last night. Quirky, entertaining. Cruise is pretty good, if about 20 years too old.
 
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