Recently Watched Movie Thread 2017

[John]

Watch a couple recently:
The Martian - really liked it, but don't think it's something I'll watch again. I like the "regular guy in space" edge to it.
American Hustle - enjoyed it quite a bit and think I'll rewatch because I suspect I'm missing major plot points.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Watch a couple recently:
The Martian - really liked it, but don't think it's something I'll watch again. I like the "regular guy in space" edge to it.
American Hustle - enjoyed it quite a bit and think I'll rewatch because I suspect I'm missing major plot points.

American Hustle is one of those movies where the characters are so interesting and well acted that I am willing to look past some plot issues.

 

[ZooCougar]

How do you not like Snatch? Are you 80 years old?

That was like his one good movie. Then he decided to become a blockbuster director and the product is not good.

 

[John]

American Hustle is one of those movies where the characters are so interesting and well acted that I am willing to look past some plot issues.

maybe about 2/3rds the way through I was getting the feeling I was missing some stuff, but watched to the end because (as you say) the characters are off-the-charts well-acted.

 

[ZooCougar]

American Hustle is great.

 

[Bliss]

Just watched Blue Velvet. Unusual and probably not something I'll watch again. Thumbs up, though, for Isabella and the Orbison music.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...DB_phY&usg=AFQjCNFntI_w5rmLCb7IAwIMo4dCAy0o4Q

 

[J187Money]

Baby Driver. Not as good as advertised but pretty good.

Needed some more driving, or at least more driving later in the movie. Other than that was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Mano]

That was like his one good movie. Then he decided to become a blockbuster director and the product is not good.

I've always loved Snatch. (Zee Germans!)

Lock, Stock is of course hilarious too. The Sherlock films were merely OK. Who can forget about the amazing Swept Away, lol? King Arthur looked weird, will probably see it eventually.

I really enjoyed The Man from U.N.C.L.E. though. Wished it had done a lot better as I would've really enjoyed them potentially revisiting those characters. Too bad.

Mostly I'd agree with your sentiment. I'm sure he'll return to another London gangster film eventually. A live action Aladdin film from him is going to be interesting.

 

[Mano]

American Hustle is great.

Seconded! It really brings home how great Amy Adams and Christian Bale can be as actors.

 

[Mano]

Rough Night - The wife had been looking forward to this one. It was pretty blah and predictable. A couple of funny moments. ScarJo is not a great comedic actress (the weak point throughout). Also, I could watch Ilana Glazer all day.

A Monster Calls - Depressing subject matter and some fine performances, especially by the young lead. The movie on the whole kind of left little impression. Must be my cold, cold heart. Great visuals.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Rough Night - The wife had been looking forward to this one. It was pretty blah and predictable. A couple of funny moments. ScarJo is not a great comedic actress (the weak point throughout). Also, I could watch Ilana Glazer all day.

I just watched that tonight. I had fairly low expectations based on terrible reviews. It wasn't great but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was alleged to be. I wasn't familiar w/ Ilana Glazer before but I see what you mean.

 

[Mano]

Wonder Woman - Finally got around to seeing it and thought it was merely ok. Enjoyable to watch but nothing I'll revisit probably and I doubt it'll have any sort of lasting effect on me. DC's movies just can't seem to figure out the right mix of laughs, action, likeable heroes and interesting villains. Marvel usually excels at the first 3 of those with the last one being a stumbling block at times.

Baby Driver - I am a fan of Edgar Wright's movies. Hot Fuzz was the ultimate send-up/exaggeration of the action genre and it was hilarious to boot. Scott Pilgrim was an incredibly imaginative and visually interesting love letter to comics and video games. The World's End was a fun sci-fi romp even if the characters were hard to root for scalitobags. And Shaun of the Dead is a brilliant lampoon of the horror genre. Baby was good in its own right. Had some well designed set pieces and interesting characters but I was a little let down by its resolution I guess. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil it.

 

[dbmill]

Wonder Woman - Finally got around to seeing it and thought it was merely ok. Enjoyable to watch but nothing I'll revisit probably and I doubt it'll have any sort of lasting effect on me. DC's movies just can't seem to figure out the right mix of laughs, action, likeable heroes and interesting villains. Marvel usually excels at the first 3 of those with the last one being a stumbling block at times.

Baby Driver - I am a fan of Edgar Wright's movies. Hot Fuzz was the ultimate send-up/exaggeration of the action genre and it was hilarious to boot. Scott Pilgrim was an incredibly imaginative and visually interesting love letter to comics and video games. The World's End was a fun sci-fi romp even if the characters were hard to root for scalitobags. And Shaun of the Dead is a brilliant lampoon of the horror genre. Baby was good in its own right. Had some well designed set pieces and interesting characters but I was a little let down by its resolution I guess. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil it.

I concur on The World's End. The basic story is good, funny, and inventive. However, the big caveat is the lead character is impossible to like or have any sympathy for, and that drags down the movie a bit. Still, I give it a plus review.

I recently saw Get Out. This horror film has plenty to say on race relations. It got rave reviews, and I think it deserved them. Terrific movie.

 

[Bliss]

Seconded! It really brings home how great Amy Adams and Christian Bale can be as actors.

I thought Jennifer Lawrence was hotter than Amy.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Saw "Wind River" last night. Slow burn of a thriller. Gets really intense. Some difficult to watch scenes. Very good performances by Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, as well as many supporting actors/actresses. A very well crafted film I thought.

 

[Waquoit]

American Hustle is great.

I dunno about great. I liked the beginning and end but the middle got pretty ponderous.

 

[huskyrob1]

Not all movies demand their own thread but I thought it'd be a nice idea to have a place to dump your thoughts or to dump on whatever movie you might've just seen. I suppose spoilers may follow since you the dear reader won't be warned going in. I'll start with my most recently watched.

Alien: Covenant

I'm probably one of the few people that actually enjoyed Prometheus (a movie I thought did an admirable job of hinting at the beginnings of the larger Alien universe) but all that groundwork was laid to waste with this direct sequel. I knew once

Spoiler

Noomi Rapace

wasn't returning that I shouldn't get my hopes up and that was revealed to be prudent once I watched it. The direction they went with the story just felt insubstantial and lacking in gravitas. Too bad, just beautiful cinematography wasted on such a dull story.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

A pretty darn fun follow-up to the first. I quite enjoyed where they went with Quill's origin story. I'm ready for more.

Ghost In The Shell

Probably not a popular genre on here but I just love feature length Japanese anime. I've always been a fan of hand drawn illustration/animation and anime by and large is the last bastion of the craft. So needless to say I'm a big fan of the original and of course had to watch Hollywood's take on the material. It was meh. I can forgive the white washing, it is a tinseltown production after all, but I can't forgive the dumbing down of the story. They really went out of their way to spell out some of the things the original left up to you to figure out. Connections the viewer made that made the journey more impactful in the end. Too bad but not entirely surprising. I still think Rupert Sanders has some amazing films in his future though, just needs to find a story that can match up to his visuals.

Alien was Ridley Scott's masterpiece. Although fans of Gladiator might disagree. In any event, Alien Covenant was just another rip off of the original film, going back to James Cameron's ridiculous sequel. In the original film (a marvel of sets, acting, lighting, musical score) we see the miracle of Ripley, with all her crew mates dead, finally killing the "perfect organism" that has a skeleton made of steel and has acid for blood. The character "Ash" and his dieing words in response to Ripley's question about how to kill the creature..."you can't...it's structural integrity is matched only by it's hostility". Then in Cameron's stupid sequel you get the impression that anyone with a rapid fire BB gun can kill hundreds of Aliens and blow them all to pieces, complete with death screeches like someone just ran over some squirrels.

 

[Mano]

Thor: Ragnarok - Taika Waititi did a tremendous job making this feel like a fresh, fun and different Marvel film. It had tremendous action, plenty of solid laughs, a pretty compelling story from beginning to end, and a nice pace to it that never let it drag. I thought he was a bit of a curious choice when I heard he'd be doing the next Thor. Having seen some of his films in What We Do in the Shadows, Eagle vs Shark, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and his work on the shows The Inbetweeners and Flight of the Conchords, I was unsure how his talents would translate to a big budget, CGI-heavy action movie. My uncertainty proved to be unfounded. I'm not some great lover of all the Marvel films but I'd probably slide this right into the top 3 with the original Guardians and the second Captain.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Thor: Ragnarok - Taika Waititi did a tremendous job making this feel like a fresh, fun and different Marvel film. It had tremendous action, plenty of solid laughs, a pretty compelling story from beginning to end, and a nice pace to it that never let it drag. I thought he was a bit of a curious choice when I heard he'd be doing the next Thor. Having seen some of his films in What We Do in the Shadows, Eagle vs Shark, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and his work on the shows The Inbetweeners and Flight of the Conchords, I was unsure how his talents would translate to a big budget, CGI-heavy action movie. My uncertainty proved to be unfounded. I'm not some great lover of all the Marvel films but I'd probably slide this right into the top 3 with the original Guardians and the second Captain.

Came here to praise Thor: Ragnarok as well. My daughter went back to see it a second time already. The real key was the humor in this one. They all have laughs here or there, but this one played off the other movies beautifully, and showcased Chris Hemsworth's and Tom Hiddleston's comedic talent to great effect.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Wonder: Great movie for kids went with a big crew ages 6 - 13 and all really liked it, saw at the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield that I could not recommend more highly.

 

[ZooCougar]

Wind River.

Same writer as Sicario and Hell or High Water, except he wrote and directed it this time. Pretty good.

 

[Mano]

Wind River.

Same writer as Sicario and Hell or High Water, except he wrote and directed it this time. Pretty good.

You know he was a pretty good actor too. Thought he was good in the role of the sheriff on Sons of Anarchy. He's clearly made the right career choice though. Wind River looks interesting.

 

[ZooCougar]

You know he was a pretty good actor too. Thought he was good in the role of the sheriff on Sons of Anarchy. He's clearly made the right career choice though. Wind River looks interesting.

Doh. He has a name. Taylor Sheridan. His stories are pretty stylistic, I had no idea it was another of his movies, halfway through it I was thinking about how much it was like Sicario and Hell or High Water and lo and behold..

The violence in these movies are decent action scenes, but they are also super fast and kinetic like it is in real life. I also like that they are socially conscious without shoving it down your throat.

 

[meyers7]

Saw "Wind River" last night. Slow burn of a thriller. Gets really intense. Some difficult to watch scenes. Very good performances by Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, as well as many supporting actors/actresses. A very well crafted film I thought.

Wife and I watched that a couple weeks ago, thought it was very good.

 

[Palatine]

If you like Ridley Scott, an early film named "The Duellists" is pretty interesting. It is, of course, beautiful shot. The plot follows two Napoleonic era military officers (Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine) as they advance through their careers and one torments the other by challenging him to duel after duel.