Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber 
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833 
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Apr 18, 2016 8:59:36 GMT -5
EraserheadSaw this for the first time not so long ago, and it didn't really click - I'm really hit and miss with Lynch ( The Elephant Man being easily my favourite film of his). However, it came to mind the other day, and I felt more in the mood for giving it a second chance, so I watched it last night. And I enjoyed it much, much more, I'm happy to say. Great to look at and listen to, even if this sort of symbolic filmmaking is never going to be my favourite thing in the cinematic universe. But it did feel like a world unto itself, which is always good. Hooray! I'm glad it was more satisfying for you this time around. The surrealist narratives of a lot of Lynch's works can be polarizing, but the artistry itself is so beautiful and haunting, something like Eraserhead can be enjoyed on a purely technical level. I do remember Stanley Kubrick said it one of his favorite films and showed it to the cast of The Shining before filming was set to begin. It was the atmosphere he was aiming for. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Apr 18, 2016 10:30:21 GMT -5
Bridge of Spies
I really liked it, although the copy we rented had some skips in really unfortunate spaces so I missed chunks of at least one important conversation.
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repulsionist
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actively disinterested
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Post by repulsionist on Apr 18, 2016 11:14:12 GMT -5
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)
Pretty great. Viewed passingly a number of times this weekend. YAY!
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Pear
TI Forumite
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Post by Pear on Apr 19, 2016 16:19:44 GMT -5
GREEN ROOM: My favorite movie of the year so far, and quite possibly the most intense theater experience I've had. Definitely watch this in a theater because it's cool to be a part of the visceral reactions it causes in the audience; the violence in this is plentiful and brutal and shocking--and those words fail to describe it fully--but it's certainly not empty violence. You get the sense that Saulnier respects and understands the power of violence, and that ultimately makes the movie all the more engaging. It's a middle finger to the deus ex machina plot device, and what's also refreshing is that its characters make rational decisions and still get fucked up. And the cast is wonderful.
HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR: Not as bad as I thought it would be. Then again, I was bound to enjoy some parts of it because of the existence of Jessica Chastain. Then add Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron, and it's a perfect world with Chris Hemsworth off to the side doing whatever the hell he does.
DEMOLITION: Gyllenhaal does his best to sell the material, but holy shit that last act is just a pile of stupidity.
HARDCORE HENRY: Alternates between mildly enjoyable and really dull. Constant dumb.
CONFIRMATION: TV movie.
THE DARK HORSE: Cliff Curtis is fantastic in this.
BLOW OUT: What an ending.
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Post by MrsLangdonAlger on Apr 19, 2016 21:04:41 GMT -5
GREEN ROOM: My favorite movie of the year so far, and quite possibly the most intense theater experience I've had. Definitely watch this in a theater because it's cool to be a part of the visceral reactions it causes in the audience; the violence in this is plentiful and brutal and shocking--and those words fail to describe it fully--but it's certainly not empty violence. You get the sense that Saulnier respects and understands the power of violence, and that ultimately makes the movie all the more engaging. It's a middle finger to the deus ex machina plot device, and what's also refreshing is that its characters make rational decisions and still get fucked up. And the cast is wonderful. I'm seeing a screening of this on Thursday, and I can't wait. This description makes me both terrified of it and more excited for it. |
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Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Apr 20, 2016 18:04:38 GMT -5
Eye in the Sky
An uncommonly intelligent, nuanced war thriller with a great collection of talented actors. It could have opted for either a simplified 'good vs. evil' piece of propaganda or a didactic sermon, but it showed that drone warfare has no easy answers and the result is heartbreaking regardless. The ending is fittingly bleak and all the more powerful because it feels like the natural endpoint.
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Apr 21, 2016 1:16:55 GMT -5
Ratatouille. My review will be forthcoming in a few days.
I get it now.
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Post by MrsLangdonAlger on Apr 21, 2016 22:15:46 GMT -5
GREEN ROOM: My favorite movie of the year so far, and quite possibly the most intense theater experience I've had. Definitely watch this in a theater because it's cool to be a part of the visceral reactions it causes in the audience; the violence in this is plentiful and brutal and shocking--and those words fail to describe it fully--but it's certainly not empty violence. You get the sense that Saulnier respects and understands the power of violence, and that ultimately makes the movie all the more engaging. It's a middle finger to the deus ex machina plot device, and what's also refreshing is that its characters make rational decisions and still get fucked up. And the cast is wonderful. Holy crap, that was brutal and exhilarating! You're right that it was definitely best to watch in a theater with an enthusiastic audience. When Prince was mentioned, the entire theater yelled and clapped. |
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Post by Sanziana on Apr 22, 2016 12:59:39 GMT -5
I've watched a lot of movies this past 3-4 days, starting with Kung Fu Panda 3. I liked it a great deal because I just love that cuddly panda and his martial arts geekery. Visually stunning, but lacking in plot and that energy the previous movies had.
Mockingjay Part 2. I guess I watched this because I'm a crazy completist, but it was a complete waste of time. Dull, by the numbers and so preachy. It had a thousand arousing speeches. I'm not watching an YA adaptation ever again. Urgh.
Deadpool. I found it enjoyable, and I admit the profanity and the jokes made me laugh a couple of times, but as others have said, we could've done without a very offensive joke. Ryan Reynolds found some vestiges of charm and Morena Baccarin was there only as the token nerd fantasy girl thanks to her Firefly days.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). I thought I should check out some of this vampire stuff that's based somewhat on my culture, so I started with this. Tons of fun, I haven't laughed with such glee at a movie in a while. I loved the operatic craziness, the lavish use of blood and gore, the gorgeous shots, the amazing directing and those deliciously over-the-top performances (Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in particular were so atrocious it was just stunning). Gary Oldman was so good and so tragic (that scene with the razor was something else), and he spoke Romanian so delightfully and so badly. A riot of a movie. I have to finish that book, but it's a pity there's no great, doomed romance at the center of it.
At 4 in the morning, bleary eyed from insomnia, I decided it was a good idea to watch a horror movie. So I watched The Thing, the original. Of course, it ended up with me hiding under my blankets, like a little kid. Terrific movie, outstandingly directed, the tension just doesn't diminish for one second and you can't get your eyes off the screen. Great special effects, it's amazing how well they stand the test of time. These practical effects have a realism and an immediacy to them that CGI lacks. That's what made this movie so effective for me.
Escape from New York. That patch over the eye was a thing of beauty, I don't care what anyone says. Beautiful score, so minimalist compared to what I'm used to from 80s movies. Pulpy, futuristic, stylish fun. Adrienne Barbeau's very generous decolletage was well, very generous.
Labyrinth. The craft and artistry that went in those puppets was staggering, and the movie itself was a lovely, joyous fantasy movie, which I'm sure I'll rewatch. David Bowie and his songs added some much needed spice, all in all, very charming and sweet.
Starship Troopers. It boggles the mind people took this movie at face value when it first appeared. It's obviously satire; if it works completely I'm not sure. I laughed a lot and enjoyed it more than I should have.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Apr 22, 2016 13:21:54 GMT -5
Batman (1989)
I don't think I'd actually sat down and watched this in maybe 20 years? That wasn't out of some sort of nerd-snobbery or anything, it more had to do with this somehow being the movie in the Burton/Schumacher series that gets re-played the least on cable. I expected it to feel cheesier and more out-dated than it did. Really I think if you modernized some of the fight choreography and effects a little bit, you could basically drop this movie today and people would be pretty happy with it. Very comic-booky in a lot of ways that I think people have come around to appreciating again.
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Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Apr 23, 2016 8:45:25 GMT -5
Sixteen Candles
It was available on my flight and I hadn't seen it since high school (how appropriate), so I decided to give it a rewatch. Some of it has aged quite poorly (the Long Duc Dong character, the extended date rape jokes near the end), but Molly Ringwald remains as radiant and charming as ever, even in pouty mode. Plus, one of the last PG-rated films to feature a shower scene where one can see titties! Gotta love the early 80s.
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Post by ganews on Apr 23, 2016 16:14:22 GMT -5
The Good Dinosaur
What a weirdo from Pixar. If you didn't already know how troubled the production was, you'd wonder how they let this get out. In a gorgeously-rendered natural universe, dinosaurs look amazingly cartoony. The main character in particular looks exactly like (and sounds pretty similar to) Pamela Adlon's twice-seen, mutated-brain dinosaur from Adventure Time. Like, you'd think the making of one was influenced by the other. Every side character introduced more than 20 minutes in came completely out of left field. The hallucination sequence in particular was simply disturbing in a way different from everything else in the movie. So, disjointed to say the least. Even Pixar knew this, releasing it the same year as Inside Out and featuring only beautiful nature shots over the credits.
The Jacket
Wifemate is a longtime fan of Adrien Brody, who is a great example of an Oscar winner with a career trajectory almost straight downward. I was checking HBOGo to see if Jurassic World was available, and look, here's an Adrien Brody movie from 2005. Never heard of it, probably bad...but look at this cast! Keira Knightly, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh; that's worth a shot. IMDB gave it a 7.1.
Well, it doesn't take much to get to 7 on IMDB, and it was pretty weak. Every poster depicted it as a horror/thriller, and the story starts with the beats and weirdness of Jacob's Ladder, only with really awful writing. Brody is a wrongly accused veteran sent to an insane asylum, where he is tortured by Kristofferson as grizzled psychiatrist (was this funded by Scientology?) Locked in a straight jacket and put in a morgue locker, Brody someone corporeally time-travels to the future, which the movie makes clear is not a hallucination. In the end the movie is not at all horror, less a rip-off of Jacob's Ladder and more of 12 Monkeys, with a happier ending like Source Code.
The most notable thing about it was how different the cast looked from themselves: Daniel Craig had shoe-polish hair dye stolen from Ronald Reagan, and Keira Knightly's American accent was weird. Still, it's not the worst thing I've seen with Daniel Craig; it's hard to imagine he'd do something more awful than Cowboys and Aliens.
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songstarliner
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i'm fine it's okay
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Post by songstarliner on Apr 24, 2016 0:28:17 GMT -5
Just watched Fury Road with a precocious twelve-year-old; my second viewing, his first.
A++ experience, would recommend. He loved it. Occasionally he'd be just standing on the couch, bouncing on the balls of his feet, clenching his fists - yep, I witnessed it.
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Post by Stuffed Salvador on Apr 24, 2016 0:32:16 GMT -5
Everybody Wants Some
As I'm not a fan of baseball, jocks or seen Dazed and Confused, I had no idea what to expect. I ended up smiling through out at the film's laid-back charms and the sexiness of all the men on display.
It Follows
Last year when I was so excited to see it I was so disappointed at the film's lack of scares, its wooden acting and downright silly the whole thing was. I revisited today because Showtime was airing it and it's been stormy all day so it seemed perfect to watch a horror movie. I still think this movie merits nothing more than a halfhearted shrug.
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Paleu
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Confirmed for neo-liberal shill.
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Post by Paleu on Apr 24, 2016 0:36:24 GMT -5
It FollowsLast year when I was so excited to see it I was so disappointed at the film's lack of scares, its wooden acting and downright silly the whole thing was. I revisited today because Showtime was airing it and it's been stormy all day so it seemed perfect to watch a horror movie. I still think this movie merits nothing more than a halfhearted shrug. YAY SOMEONE ELSE AGREES WITH ME |
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Post by Stuffed Salvador on Apr 24, 2016 0:43:51 GMT -5
Paleu , we are few, but we exist.
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Post by ganews on Apr 24, 2016 14:08:17 GMT -5
Jurassic World
We watched it for the first time last night on HBOGo, and boy was that the right decision, because we were free to talk out loud about the inconsistencies and improbabilities. It's not that the characters were stupid like Prometheus, more like the world within the movie was stupid. Also some of the characters were stupid like in Prometheus. I think it might have been worse than Jurassic Park II. Every piece of music in the movie was just a treatment of the original theme, and not the happy, hopeful beginning part. I'm glad the French black dude survived, because he was my favorite character. All his lines and facial expressions were basically, "These fuckin' guys..." I thought the CGI effects were going to be the biggest problem, but it was not bad except for an early, pointless shot of a bird.
Top stupidities:
The Indomitus is attracted to a crowd of people stated to be miles away because it can sense heat, even though it is midday with the sun shining in Central America
Guests get to roam free through a zoo in a self-powered vehicle with no means to prevent them from "off-roading"
The incredible and unexplained way the tracking system fails for the Indomitus to get free
Constant, constant running in heels, which is lampshaded but happens anyway
20 years is not enough time for multiple famous failures, gathering new funds, raising animals to adulthood, opening the park, AND the public getting bored
The Indomitus and T-rex powerfully shake the ground when walking, except when wearing plot-mandated sneakers
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Post by William T. Goat, Esq. on Apr 24, 2016 21:14:11 GMT -5
Red Planet Mars
I taped this from TV a few weeks ago, and when the AVC had its "Cold War week", I thought it was the perfect time to watch it.
Peter Graves and Andrea King are a married couple of scientists who are trying to communicate with Mars by radio. The Russians have their own scientist, a Nazi war criminal, listening in on the transmissions. Or maybe more than just listening?
I guess I really don't understand how the economy works. One message from Mars reveals that Martians can grow enough food for everybody on their planet--and Earth's farmers go on strike. Another message reveals that Martian technology runs on free and renewable "cosmic energy"--and Earth's coal and oil companies go out of business. Is that what would really happen? It doesn't make sense to me. If we don't have "cosmic energy", then we still need the resources we have, don't we?
…Anyway, the Russians are pleased with the downfall of the Western world's economy, until another message reveals that Mars is a Christian utopia, which causes a revolution in Russia that leads to a theocracy. Which is seen as a good thing. I don't want to reveal any further twists, but let's just say it's slightly less crazy than Gabriel Over the White House.
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Paleu
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Confirmed for neo-liberal shill.
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Post by Paleu on Apr 25, 2016 0:06:01 GMT -5
The Incredibles
Finally got around to watching all of this, and it was pretty damn fantastic. Easily one of my favorite Pixar films, up there with stuff like Wall-E and Up.
Cars
Really, really weird, and not in a good way. 3/5 stars, and that's being charitable.
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heroboy
AV Clubber
I must succeed!
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Post by heroboy on Apr 25, 2016 11:07:24 GMT -5
So HeroGal and I snuck off Sunday afternoon to watch a movie, and somehow chose The Huntsman: Winter's War. It wasn't terrible.
The best parts were Charlize Theron as the delightfully evil sorceress, though she unfortunately had very few scenes, and Chris Hemsworth who just had a ton of fun with the role. Very reminiscent of Val Kilmer in Willow*. Emily Blunt was okay as the Ice Queen, but by nature of her role, it was a very unemotional performance. Jessica Chastain was basically forgettable as the love interest. Nick Frost and Rob Brydon could have been very good as the two dwarfs, but their dialogue was definitely not as snappy as it thought it was and could have used a punch-up (and maybe Simon Pegg instead).
The lack of Kristen Stewart as Snow White was very noticeable as they had to write a few scenes around her absence. Like they got the Prince to deliver an emotional message to the Huntsman, rather than have her say it herself. They even had one really clumsily done scene showing Snow White from the back only which completely broadcasted that it was somebody else.
*I have long been a proponent that a Willow prequel about Mad Martigan would be an amazing film, though have lamented the fact that Val Kilmer just would no longer be able to pull it off. Chris Hemsworth would be seriously perfect for this. |
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Post by ganews on Apr 26, 2016 20:02:54 GMT -5
Black Card, a short from last year. Comedy/drama - I won't say more because it's only 15 minutes long and is on HBOGo right now. Go watch it.
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Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Apr 28, 2016 15:31:32 GMT -5
My Beautiful Broken Brain
An absolutely terrifying, yet beautifully humanistic documentary that follows one woman's recovery following a brain hemorrhage. It's... beautifully comforting, in its own odd way.
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Apr 29, 2016 8:52:41 GMT -5
Captain America: Civil War
There's the movie I wanted it to be, and the movie it is. The movie it is frustrates me in some of the same ways as Winter Soldier; but as with previous Marvel films like Ultron, it's really more about the ever evolving interpersonal relationships between the movie series' amorphous cast members than anything else; and I should stop expecting the narrative thread in these movies to be more than that - to look for climaxes in a comic book tradition that prefers a neverending second act (which may be why the comic book geek I hashed this over with was far more enthused about the movie.) Unlike Ultron, it's a bit long.
Ultimately, it's the movie you saw the trailers for. It delivers all that stuff, and people loved Winter Soldier, and it juggles a gigantic cast of well liked superheroes (inserting two more who work quite well) so it's a pretty good time at the cineplex all told.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Apr 29, 2016 9:04:06 GMT -5
Captain America: Civil WarThere's the movie I wanted it to be, and the movie it is. The movie it is frustrates me in some of the same ways as Winter Soldier; but as with previous Marvel films like Ultron, it's really more about the ever evolving interpersonal relationships between the movie series' amorphous cast members than anything else; and I should stop expecting the narrative thread in these movies to be more than that - to look for climaxes in a comic book tradition that prefers a neverending second act (which may be why the comic book geek I hashed this over with was far more enthused about the movie.) Unlike Ultron, it's a bit long. Ultimately, it's the movie you saw the trailers for. It delivers all that stuff, and people loved Winter Soldier, and it juggles a gigantic cast of well liked superheroes (inserting two more who work quite well) so it's a pretty good time at the cineplex all told. Is it a bit less messy and more focused than Ultron was? That's all I ask. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Apr 29, 2016 11:38:41 GMT -5
Is it a bit less messy and more focused than Ultron was? That's all I ask. Well, it's more centered on the conflict between characters, and that, as in Ultron, is the stuff that tends to work better. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Apr 29, 2016 11:40:45 GMT -5
Is it a bit less messy and more focused than Ultron was? That's all I ask. Well, it's more centered on the conflict between characters, and that, as in Ultron, is the stuff that tends to work better. hmmm, cautiously optimistic then. |
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Apr 29, 2016 15:35:52 GMT -5
I'm 16 minutes into Michael Bay's Transformers, and pardon my language, but holy fuckballs this movie is retarded. This is like if Starship Troopers hadn't been a satire and stopped every minute just to include a Manmy and a human Speedy Gonzales. And also, ancient alien beings take the form of contemporary Earth technology.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2016 16:39:33 GMT -5
I'm 16 minutes into Michael Bay's Transformers, and pardon my language, but holy fuckballs this movie is retarded. This is like if Starship Troopers hadn't been a satire and stopped every minute just to include a Manmy and a human Speedy Gonzales. And also, ancient alien beings take the form of contemporary Earth technology. *sings* "Transformerrrrrrrs, More of Shia, guyyyys! Transformerrrrrrrs, Profit in Disguiiiiiiise! Michael Bay wages battles to destroy the childhood memories of...the Millenials!" |
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Apr 29, 2016 17:24:01 GMT -5
I'm 16 minutes into Michael Bay's Transformers, and pardon my language, but holy fuckballs this movie is retarded. This is like if Starship Troopers hadn't been a satire and stopped every minute just to include a Manmy and a human Speedy Gonzales. And also, ancient alien beings take the form of contemporary Earth technology. *sings* "Transformerrrrrrrs, More of Shia, guyyyys! Transformerrrrrrrs, Profit in Disguiiiiiiise! Michael Bay wages battles to destroy the childhood memories of...the Millenials!" Yeah, I was born in 1989, Transformers meant nothing to me. Nostalgia is funny in the way it's targeted towards people who weren't born yet. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Apr 29, 2016 18:58:52 GMT -5
Minions
Well, I have children
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