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The Movies Thread

Started by Sakura, May 19, 2014, 04:58:44 AM

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BojackHorsefella

Blindspotting and Eighth Grade, respectively.

I've got reviews for all the movies I've seen this year (I started off doing full reviews, now I just do a simple is it worth seeing gimmick). I also have a ranking of all the films I've seen this year:

My profile on Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/Bucfever

Crewe

So, I caught up on quite a bit of my Marvel quest. Now in th bag are both Ant Man movies and Age of Ulton which I realized I hadn't seen.
Only films I have not seen now are the first two Thor's (do I need to?) and Doctor Strange.

I can hardly recall anything from The First Avenger and Winter Soldier. The others I can recall better but still have only seen once.
If I were to do a run through refresh, which films would you deem important enough to see again, or do I need to see any three that I haven't thus far?

Crewe

First Man
Ryan Gosling

The story of Neil Armstrong and his involvements in the Gemini and Apollo programs beginning as a test pilot.
Gosling gives a solid performance here backed up by a great performance by Kyle Chandler as Deke Slayton.
I would say spoilers ahead, but if you don't know the story by now, well, you're about to be spoiled.
Armstrong is calm and almost stoic in the face of doom and tragedy which he faces throughout this picture.
It begins with him losing his young daughter Karen to brain cancer and that is a theme running throughout the film. Hence we see unspoken tension amongst his family but all the while we know he is dealing with the tragedy of his brothers who perished in another Apollo test prior to the moon landing.
All in all, a really well done movie. The space scenes were tight and confined to replicate the astronauts conditions, coupled with the tension and anxiety of sudden problems all the way down to what one would deem a simple landing.
You would immediately compare the space scenes to Apollo 13 but this, although much more brief in stressfulness (13 was a film's worth) First Man had a bit of a different feel to it, not better or worse, just as effective, but different.
Personally, I didn't like the score revolving around the moon landing, it just didn't fit.
Secondly, all I heard was "the flag, the flag! as the US Flag was not planted. I reserved judgement because I wanted to see the film and now that I have....well, within the scene itself, I get why they didn't include that happening. It wasn't part of Armstrong's character or growth in this particular story.
That said, immediately after the landing we are shown the American Flag in celebratory scenes along with archived newsreels. In addition to, it was mentioned head on multiple ties in this movie that it was in fact a space race and that the Soviets were well ahead of us. So, with that being a fact, it doesn't make much sense to avoid the flag on the moon.
However, once you see it, I think you will feel just the way I do which is, it wasn't exactly pertinent to that particular scene which was more about Armstrong and his struggles than the United States space race.
Yes, have some

4/5

Crewe

Steve Martin and Martin Short
An Evening You Will Forget For the Rest of Your Life

Im not usually one for these types of variety show specials but Im a huge Steve Martin fan and Martin Short as well, maybe not his movies so much, but he's a great talent and storyteller.
What you get here are Martin and Short playing off of each other for a segment, telling how they met on Three Amigos and then they set each other up to tell a few short pertinent stories followed by solo bits.
Martin Short does his broadway type singing off the cuff joke teller while Martin relies on his love of music, primarily the banjo.
His band joins in for a tune and its really good (you should check out Martin's music) then we close with the both of them going at it again.
It really is a fun romp that moves pretty quickly and worth a watch if you are a fan of either.
If you don't really like either one, its hard to say what you will think, but give it a look anyway and let me know.


BojackHorsefella

Really wanted to see Martin and Short when they were in Seattle, but the timing wasn't right.

Also, loved First Man (for whatever it's worth, kiddo did too). I understand why "mainstream audiences" may have been turned off, as the Armstrong character is playing so incredibly stoic the whole time, there's always a distance kept between the audience and the main subject. But the story, and the absolute technical mastery in how the movie was shot, had me in awe.

Crewe

Quote from: Bucfever on December 31, 2018, 11:48:33 PM
Really wanted to see Martin and Short when they were in Seattle, but the timing wasn't right.

Also, loved First Man (for whatever it's worth, kiddo did too). I understand why "mainstream audiences" may have been turned off, as the Armstrong character is playing so incredibly stoic the whole time, there's always a distance kept between the audience and the main subject. But the story, and the absolute technical mastery in how the movie was shot, had me in awe.

yea I get that too, audience felt distant from Armstrong, but that's how you have to tell his story.
Film was well directed. I thought it demonstrated great talent, separating the feel from Apollo 13 which was going to be the immediate comparison.

Bad Times at El Royale

Starting out, this is my kinda movie.
Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo) arrives at the El Royale Hotel where she meets Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges) in the parking lot.
The seemingly hokey dialogue regarding the weather in each state refers to the California / Nevada state line depicted by a thick red line stretching through the hotel. Upon entering the lobby, we find Laramie Sullivan (John Hamm) impatiently waiting for an employee to surface in the vacant hotel.
We then see, or rather hear, Emily Summerspring (Dakato Johnson) roar in to the parking lot in her American made muscle car.
Once in, we continue with the interesting, stand offish character introductions when Miles suddenly appears (Lewis Pullman) who is rustled from the back by Cynthia's rap on an employees only door.

The audience gets the spiel about the Royale, the Nevada rooms get the Vice City treatment with gambling and drinking while the California side gets the sun and outdoors.
The character reveals come somewhat slow for some and are unveiled after Billy Lee arrives (Chris Hemsworth) surprisingly (to the characters) to the Royale.
One might describe this film as a talkie and Ive even heard it described as a Bud Light Tarantino film. That comparison notwithstanding, I fell like this movie needs more than one watch, at least it does for me. Entertaining as it is, it left me with unanswered questions although I only saw it yesterday soIm still mulling it over.
The third act, always saves or kills a movie and I haven't decided which but what it does do is make me re tread everything and reconsider dialog which is usually a positive for me.
The art direction was spot on here and most of the actors delivered. Hemsworth was a bit over the top and hammy if you will, but he was a necessary plot device.
This is not a Tarantino like film and don't believe anyone that tells you otherwise. I think its a good not great film and you should give it a go.
It's expressive and ambiguous, perhaps short sighted at times, but worth a look.

Spoiler

So the state line is obviously (to me) good (CA) vs evil (NV) and I liked the reveal of Miles, especially him dying right on the line.
Darlene we know is good throughout with all the rotten treatment she receives. Emily is neutral evil and Rose being mesmerized by Billy Lee was certainly believable. I felt liked the artful manner in which Father Flynn was mysterious, being tied to the opening murder, but then using his Alzheimer's to soften his criminal past making him acceptable to Darlene and the audience.
Obviously El Royale is a mob bugged locale for Hoover's FBI and I enjoyed part of the mystery of Sullivan discovering other bugs, that was a nice little open ended hmmm...
However, him choosing to ignore orders to defuse a kidnapping seems to illicit good guy vibes, coupled with the fact he died early.
Ive had many ask me, what is the point of the movie? That seems to be the main source of confusion.
I mean, to me, the point was that there are grey areas within us and its not just a good and evil state line running through our conscious.
Maybe I missed the point, I dunno.

BojackHorsefella

Seeing as how it's now a new year, figured I'd futz around and throw out some stuff in here.

So, the first movie I saw last year was Molly's Game. I, personally, did not enjoy it very much at all. The last movie I saw last year was, actually, Die Hard. While in Myrtle for Christmas I was able to take kiddo to the "Flashback Cinema" that I used to take him to, where one of the theaters shows an old movie every Sunday and Wednesday. Well, the 30th was Die Hard and I wasn't missing seeing that in theaters.

My top rated (and favorite) movie of 2018: Blindspotting (5 stars).

Lowest rated movie: The Cloverfield Paradox (1 star)

How many movies got how many stars? I've got you covered:

5 stars: 8 movies
4 - 4.5: 22
3 - 3.5: 27
2 - 2.5: 10
1 - 1.5: 3

Best Animated (and most mind-blowing) movie? Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. That was such a treat and really lived up to the expectations.

Best Documentary: Well, I only saw one, so it goes to Won't You Be My Neighbor

Biggest Surprise: Upgrade. Or as I like to call it: Venom 1.0, because this movie shares a plot, basically, and literally action sequences with Venom, but this came out first. And it's better. Also Logan Marshall Greene looks like Tom Hardy but actually knows how to use his voice instead of random made-up voices no one uses in real life.

Worst Sequel: I'd say Cloverfield Paradox, but are those movies really sequels? Kind of an anthology series, right? If not Paradox, then easily Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Best Horror Movie: It's ranked 40th overall on my list of movies (and this requires you thinking that Searching, which was amazing, is a thriller and not horror and that The Meg, which was better than it had any right to be, is an action and not a horror, all of which I think are accurate), but, all that aside, it's Halloween. I liked it a lot more than I expected.

Best Drama: Blindspotting, obviously.

Best Action: Mission Impossible: Fallout, easily. This movie was insane. I love how McQuarrie allowed Rogue Nation to basically be the prologue so him and Tom Cruise could just go balls to the wall for this movie, because it freaking worked. That was a good time in the theater.

Best Thriller/Mystery: Searching. Seriously, if you didn't catch this in theaters, you need to see it. John Cho is GREAT in it, plus that ending, my goodness. Literally got chills thinking about it right now.

Oh, and lastly, Best Comedy: Blockers, which I have 16th overall on my list. That and Game Night were easily this year's standouts, and they were both early in the year. No others really came close (Tag was better than I expected, but nowhere near as good as the other two).


That's all I've got for now. Full rankings for all 70 movies here:

https://letterboxd.com/bucfever/list/films-ive-seen-in-2018-rankings/detail/

TheNorm

Watched Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse a few days ago and was blown away by just how incredible it was. More superhero movies need to be like this.

Anyway, here's an article worth reading if you've already seen the film (there be spoilers). That moment hit me.

https://kotaku.com/spider-man-into-the-spider-verses-best-moment-comes-fr-1831554553
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

Crewe

Quote from: Bucfever on January 04, 2019, 03:38:54 PM

My top rated (and favorite) movie of 2018: Blindspotting (5 stars).

Lowest rated movie: The Cloverfield Paradox (1 star)

How many movies got how many stars? I've got you covered:

5 stars: 8 movies
4 - 4.5: 22
3 - 3.5: 27
2 - 2.5: 10
1 - 1.5: 3

Best Animated (and most mind-blowing) movie? Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. That was such a treat and really lived up to the expectations.

Best Documentary: Well, I only saw one, so it goes to Won't You Be My Neighbor

Biggest Surprise: Upgrade. Or as I like to call it: Venom 1.0, because this movie shares a plot, basically, and literally action sequences with Venom, but this came out first. And it's better. Also Logan Marshall Greene looks like Tom Hardy but actually knows how to use his voice instead of random made-up voices no one uses in real life.

Worst Sequel: I'd say Cloverfield Paradox, but are those movies really sequels? Kind of an anthology series, right? If not Paradox, then easily Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Best Horror Movie: It's ranked 40th overall on my list of movies (and this requires you thinking that Searching, which was amazing, is a thriller and not horror and that The Meg, which was better than it had any right to be, is an action and not a horror, all of which I think are accurate), but, all that aside, it's Halloween. I liked it a lot more than I expected.

Best Drama: Blindspotting, obviously.

Best Action: Mission Impossible: Fallout, easily. This movie was insane. I love how McQuarrie allowed Rogue Nation to basically be the prologue so him and Tom Cruise could just go balls to the wall for this movie, because it freaking worked. That was a good time in the theater.

Best Thriller/Mystery: Searching. Seriously, if you didn't catch this in theaters, you need to see it. John Cho is GREAT in it, plus that ending, my goodness. Literally got chills thinking about it right now.

Oh, and lastly, Best Comedy: Blockers, which I have 16th overall on my list. That and Game Night were easily this year's standouts, and they were both early in the year. No others really came close (Tag was better than I expected, but nowhere near as good as the other two).


That's all I've got for now. Full rankings for all 70 movies here:

https://letterboxd.com/bucfever/list/films-ive-seen-in-2018-rankings/detail/

I don't attend the theatre often nor watch too many movies of the year (not on purpose) so my choice wouldn't fall under 2018 lol

TheNorm

*No spoilers in here, promise*

Captain Marvel
Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Clark Gregg, Annette Bening

Not sure how I was able to see this movie about a female superhero as a male without being triggered...oh, that's right: I'm not a fragile, easily triggered moron.

Anyway, now that I've got that out of the way...

Brie Larson was the perfect choice to take on this role, an origin story set in 1995. They didn't beat you over the head with it (the 90s references), which I liked. Seeing a Blockbuster Video again though did bring back some memories (former employee/assistant manager here). As nice as it was to get a look at how Captain Marvel came to be, it was also nice to get an introduction on how Nick Fury came to be as well. The cat is also awesome and I loved the name they gave it for the movie.

The story is pretty good but the pacing stumbles a little bit in parts. But overall it's a fun film that fits in the MCU, and sets up the final superhero before we get Endgame dropped on us next month.

4.25/5
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

Crewe

I read a bit about something she said that upset people. What was it? The film wasn't for old guys or something similar?
I didn't think too much about these types of things except in the case of the female Ghostbusters.

BojackHorsefella




Sure everyone's seen it by now, but I love the new Endgame trailer. Looks like my boy Cap is going to get roughed up, but I trust them to do right by him.

I can't wait for this movie to come out. I might be off the Marvel train by then (I'll probably still go see Spider-Man, though, at least), but these last 10, 11 years now, have been such a thrill.

Crewe

There's going to b ANOTHER Spider Man?

BojackHorsefella

Quote from: Crewe on March 14, 2019, 03:06:44 PM
There's going to b ANOTHER Spider Man?



Yeah. It's funny, because it comes out like, 3 months after Endgame, I think? So they've already had to start marketing, despite Spidey getting dusted at the end of Infinity War. So, not even trying to pretend like he's not coming back (there's still the CHANCE that Far From Home is a prequel, but, honestly, if he were to theoretically still be dead at the Endgame, then what would be the point?)

But it's not another reboot this time, just a sequel to Spiderman: Homecoming, the one that's actually in the MCU with Tom Holland. Looks good, I'm always game for more Jake Gyllenhaal (I thought I spelled that wrong until I looked it up).

Crewe

ok, no spoilers because I don't read or watch anything MCU other than the movies, but they really died at the end of Infinity War?
Don't answer that....

Im really indifferent to Jake Gyllenhaal. I know he's a lot of peoples favorites but I just don't get it.
It's like Jamie Foxx. Never cared for him despite the plum roles he seemed to land