Topic: What movies are you watching?

[Volnutt]

The last Nolan movie I saw was Interstellar and it sucked.

I'll probably just pick up WW

It's been a while since I've seen Interstellar. I remember liking it ok, not spectacular but still serviceable (and I liked the fact that it was the only piece of media to show a wormhole as something other than a black hole with an accretion disk).

What made you dislike it? The attempt at a mind screw ending? I vaguely remember not being a huge fan of how that was handled, either.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Phantom Thread was a movie with thread thin acting and a phantom plot. I tried my best to hang in for the duration, but I walked out a little more than halfway through. And I’m partial to a slow paced, character driven drama. But this movie had absolutely no pace, no character, no drive, and no drama whatsoever. Disappointing, because this is the first time I’ve been able to afford going to a movie in over a year. It got very good reviews, so that’s why I decided to give it a try. Sure wish I had that 8 bucks back.

Selam

[Asteriktos]

The Cloverfield Paradox

Ok, that was better than I expected.

[Asteriktos]

10 Cloverfield Lane

I'm guessing I'll skip the original movie.

[Volnutt]

10 Cloverfield Lane

I love that movie. I still need to see Paradox.

I'm guessing I'll skip the original movie.

Some of the effects are good and I like the creature designs (and Lizzy Caplan), but most of is just kind of boring.

[Mor Ephrem]

(and Lizzy Caplan)

 

[biro]

Just came back from seeing "Peter Rabbit." It was pretty good.

[Asteriktos]

The Ritual (netflix)

A mostly fine horror movie.

[Asteriktos]

Get Out

http://www.getoutoneyearlater.com/

[Arachne]

Romeo + Juliet last night, Moulin Rouge! tonight. Fighting V-day schmaltz with an overdose of Baz Luhrmann.

[Volnutt]

Romeo + Juliet last night, Moulin Rouge! tonight. Fighting V-day schmaltz with an overdose of Baz Luhrmann.

There seems to be a growing number of couples who watch a lot of horror movies on VD for, I'm guessing, the same reason.

[biro]

Saw "Black Panther" the other day. It was good.

[biro]

Saw "Early Man" yesterday. It was very good!

[scamandrius]

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is on Netflix so I finally got to watch it.  Daniel Day Lewis again turns in a very good performance worthy of another Oscar but as far as the rest of the movie, the plot and the star-studded cast:  meh.

[Volnutt]

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is on Netflix so I finally got to watch it.  Daniel Day Lewis again turns in a very good performance worthy of another Oscar but as far as the rest of the movie, the plot and the star-studded cast:  meh.

I thought that Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field both turned in good performances as well.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is on Netflix so I finally got to watch it.  Daniel Day Lewis again turns in a very good performance worthy of another Oscar but as far as the rest of the movie, the plot and the star-studded cast:  meh.

Yeah, it just didn't seem worth watching to me. And I like Daniel Day Lewis most of the time, but I had no interest in seeing this one. As far as Lincoln movies go, Young Mr. Lincoln starring Henry Fonda and Abe Lincoln in Illinois starring Raymond Massey are both excellent films.

Selam

[Asteriktos]

My elderly neighbor upstairs is apparently working her way through the Star Wars movies tonight, and every now and then I hear the symphonic music or the wooshing of lightsabers 

[biro]

Went to see "Red Sparrow" last night. Pretty bad.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Lust for Life

Saw it again for about the 5th time. Love it.

Selam

[Arachne]

Morning-after-Oscars mood:

[Volnutt]

Watched Princess Mononoke again with my folks. Still one of my favorite movies ever

[Ainnir]

Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

[biro]

Saw "A Wrinkle in Time" tonight. It was okay.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Saw "A Wrinkle in Time" tonight. It was okay.

I've heard that it was terrible, and that it leaves out all the important Christian themes and references in the novel.

Selam

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Paths to Glory

Powerful anti-war movie starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Selam

[biro]

Saw "A Wrinkle in Time" tonight. It was okay.

I've heard that it was terrible, and that it leaves out all the important Christian themes and references in the novel.

Selam

I haven't read the book, I couldn't say.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

Saw "A Wrinkle in Time" tonight. It was okay.

I've heard that it was terrible, and that it leaves out all the important Christian themes and references in the novel.

Selam

I haven't read the book, I couldn't say.

Me either. Just going by what I've heard. I probably need to read the book one day.

Selam

[Arachne]

Saw "A Wrinkle in Time" tonight. It was okay.

I've heard that it was terrible, and that it leaves out all the important Christian themes and references in the novel.

Selam

I haven't read the book, I couldn't say.

Me either. Just going by what I've heard. I probably need to read the book one day.

Selam

John Scalzi's review has me intrigued: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2018/03/11/thoughts-on-a-wrinkle-in-time/

[Volnutt]

I saw Thor Ragnarok with a friend yesterday. Like all these superhero movies it's profoundly empty, but tries to cover up the emptiness with funny dialogue and gags, some of which are actually pretty good... just not good enough to paper over the black hole at the movie's heart. Dear Cate Blanchett is pretty much wasted, given nothing to do but walk around looking sexy and delivering the most banal, cookie-cutter movie villain lines. All in all, I won't pretend I didn't enjoy myself but I also enjoy the occasional bag of Doritos.

Finally saw it just now. I didn't think it was that empty. Yeah, Hela's character was not great, but she did have a couple of moments of dry sarcasm ("were you not paying attention just now?") and the implied sense of betrayal she gets from Odin is definitely there. She was a better main villain than Surtur would have been (I like that the movie used him as Chekhov's Gun instead of trying to make him and Hela co-villains the whole way through, the whole technicality prophecy thing was kind of fun and clever). It was also kind of interesting to see one villain take a "last stand" against another and get curb stomped. I almost felt sorry for her in that last moment.

What I saw as the movie's central theme- learning to come back from your failures and not see yourself as doomed to play the villain just because you've had a misstep- was nothing ground breaking, especially for an action movie, sure. But it was there. Thor, Hulk/Bruce, Valkyrie (who was probably the best character overall), Odin, and even Loki and Korg all had moments with one another as well as alone that expanded on their characters pretty well. I got a definite sense of where each of these people were standing emotionally (especially Bruce).

I think the worst written character was actually Skurge the Executioner, but only because we didn't get as much background on him in order to contrast with his fall and redemption. If you don't know, here's how it went in the comics.

Now, obviously they aren't going to be able to stack all of that onto an incidental character in a two hour movie, but I feel like they could have done a little more with him.







Also, sorry if this makes you think less of me, but I thought that the score was transcendent and Mothersbaugh should have won an Oscar.

[biro]

Went to see "Annihilation" the other day. That was really weird.

[Iconodule]

I saw Thor Ragnarok with a friend yesterday. Like all these superhero movies it's profoundly empty, but tries to cover up the emptiness with funny dialogue and gags, some of which are actually pretty good... just not good enough to paper over the black hole at the movie's heart. Dear Cate Blanchett is pretty much wasted, given nothing to do but walk around looking sexy and delivering the most banal, cookie-cutter movie villain lines. All in all, I won't pretend I didn't enjoy myself but I also enjoy the occasional bag of Doritos.

Finally saw it just now. I didn't think it was that empty. Yeah, Hela's character was not great, but she did have a couple of moments of dry sarcasm ("were you not paying attention just now?") and the implied sense of betrayal she gets from Odin is definitely there. She was a better main villain than Surtur would have been (I like that the movie used him as Chekhov's Gun instead of trying to make him and Hela co-villains the whole way through, the whole technicality prophecy thing was kind of fun and clever). It was also kind of interesting to see one villain take a "last stand" against another and get curb stomped. I almost felt sorry for her in that last moment.

What I saw as the movie's central theme- learning to come back from your failures and not see yourself as doomed to play the villain just because you've had a misstep- was nothing ground breaking, especially for an action movie, sure. But it was there. Thor, Hulk/Bruce, Valkyrie (who was probably the best character overall), Odin, and even Loki and Korg all had moments with one another as well as alone that expanded on their characters pretty well. I got a definite sense of where each of these people were standing emotionally (especially Bruce).

I think the worst written character was actually Skurge the Executioner, but only because we didn't get as much background on him in order to contrast with his fall and redemption. If you don't know, here's how it went in the comics.

Now, obviously they aren't going to be able to stack all of that onto an incidental character in a two hour movie, but I feel like they could have done a little more with him.







Also, sorry if this makes you think less of me, but I thought that the score was transcendent and Mothersbaugh should have won an Oscar.

It's quite possible that not having read the source material seriously hampers my appreciation of these films.

[Volnutt]

Eh, 9 times out of 10 neither have I just because of money and time factors. I'm more DC than Marvel when it comes to the comics, anyhow.

Posts like the above probably just come from my tendency to overthink everything.

[Asteriktos]

What little I've heard of Annihilation sounds interesting... anyone see it yet?

[scamandrius]

I saw Thor Ragnarok with a friend yesterday. Like all these superhero movies it's profoundly empty, but tries to cover up the emptiness with funny dialogue and gags, some of which are actually pretty good... just not good enough to paper over the black hole at the movie's heart. Dear Cate Blanchett is pretty much wasted, given nothing to do but walk around looking sexy and delivering the most banal, cookie-cutter movie villain lines. All in all, I won't pretend I didn't enjoy myself but I also enjoy the occasional bag of Doritos.

Finally saw it just now. I didn't think it was that empty. Yeah, Hela's character was not great, but she did have a couple of moments of dry sarcasm ("were you not paying attention just now?") and the implied sense of betrayal she gets from Odin is definitely there. She was a better main villain than Surtur would have been (I like that the movie used him as Chekhov's Gun instead of trying to make him and Hela co-villains the whole way through, the whole technicality prophecy thing was kind of fun and clever). It was also kind of interesting to see one villain take a "last stand" against another and get curb stomped. I almost felt sorry for her in that last moment.

What I saw as the movie's central theme- learning to come back from your failures and not see yourself as doomed to play the villain just because you've had a misstep- was nothing ground breaking, especially for an action movie, sure. But it was there. Thor, Hulk/Bruce, Valkyrie (who was probably the best character overall), Odin, and even Loki and Korg all had moments with one another as well as alone that expanded on their characters pretty well. I got a definite sense of where each of these people were standing emotionally (especially Bruce).

I think the worst written character was actually Skurge the Executioner, but only because we didn't get as much background on him in order to contrast with his fall and redemption. If you don't know, here's how it went in the comics.

Now, obviously they aren't going to be able to stack all of that onto an incidental character in a two hour movie, but I feel like they could have done a little more with him.

I agree with this.  I finally got to see it this weekend and it was well worth waiting for as opposed to shelling out $10+ in a movie theater. Yeah, Hela wasn't well written and not even a veteran actress like Cate Blanchett could have saved her though I think Cate Blanchett should do more roles as a brunette than a blonde (I thought she looked great).  Skurge was funny but more back story was needed though I am a big fan of Karl Urban.  I think Karl Urban was in some ways channeling a more sinister version of Dr. McCoy for his rendition of Skurge.

[Volnutt]

I think Karl Urban was in some ways channeling a more sinister version of Dr. McCoy for his rendition of Skurge.

Yeah, I can see that heh.

[biro]

What little I've heard of Annihilation sounds interesting... anyone see it yet?

It's bizarre. The ending makes no sense.

[Arachne]

What little I've heard of Annihilation sounds interesting... anyone see it yet?

It's bizarre. The ending makes no sense.

Depending on which Lena you think survived.

[Porter ODoran]

Hey now! Isn't there a canon against spoilers?

[Volnutt]

Hey now! Isn't there a canon against spoilers?

We'd have to consult the works of Abba Hezekiah.

[biro]

Just saw 'Sherlock Gnomes.' It was okay.

[Luke]

The Castle.  Funny and interesting movie about eminent domain.

[Luke]

Just saw Paul, Apostle of Christ.  It is a slow film, but I thought it was interesting.  There was some violence in it, but the film makers did not overdo it.

[Volnutt]

Finally saw Justice League and... I liked the Parademon design and that's about it lol.

I kid. The secondary characters were ok, though I didn't understand the whole "Barry Allen, omni-wiener who's afraid of everything" angle. Ezra Miller's performance was good, probably the only spot of joy in the movie next to Alfred- kind of disappointed that it wasn't Grant Gustin though. Cyborg was ok for a one-note broody guy (although kind of confusing that he just walks around in a hoodie that doesn't even conceal his giant chest LED). Jason Momoa gave a good performance, but his angsty man-child version of Aquaman felt pretty underwritten (and Geoff Johns's tired "Srsly guys, I'm so much cooler than just talking to fish!" joke needs to die already).

Gal Gadot was fine and deserved to be in a better movie. Battfleck was a loathsome charm black hole (the "something's bleeding" line got a chuckle out of me, admittedly, but every other scene he was in was just bleeeeh). Cavill's Superman was more human than he's ever been, but that's still not saying much. Overall, the "make it lighter" reshoots didn't seem to help too much, except for Flash's scenes. I guess the scenes between Superman and Martha Kent were ok, though. Silas Stone was pretty good, too.

Steppenwolf was... ok. I knew these movies were going to have to adapt Jack Kirby stuff eventually, but turning the Mother Boxes into rip-offs of Marvel's Cosmic Cubes doesn't make any sense and is honestly kind of infuriating (Mother Boxes are not "made of chaos" or whatever Steppenwolf said, they're helpful sapient computers of which there's far more than just three that communicate with the Source- Jack Kirby's kinda-sorta-maybe version of God- they're almost always portrayed in the comics as forces for good that imprint on their owners to such an extent that they self-destruct if he or she dies), especially when Kirby's Fourth World already has an easy MacGuffin in the form of the Anti-Life Equation. In fact, they could easily have tied Anti-Life into any number of themes relating to Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman being cut-off from one another or from humanity, etc. Just goes to show how little creativity actually went into this. I just can't wait to see Snyder and co's profoundly souless takes on the Female Furies and Mr. Miracle.

Despite my dislike of the Arkham Knight-style tank Batmobile, Batman's little crawling mech was kind of cool. It felt like a Kingdom Come reference, even though I don't think it actually was.

I also always dig techno-organic veiny looking things so I thought that the Apokolips terraforming devices were pretty cool.

/rant]

[Iconodule]

Saw Ready Player One last week with a friend. This time, I had actually read the book a while ago- too long to really keep track of where the movie diverges. I felt like the book was pretty badly written but enjoyable enough. I wonder how much lasting power the dystopia/ 80's nostalgia combination will have. Also SPOILER ALERT I found that the dystopian angle was severely undermined by the sudden appearance of righteous police at the end to bring the evil CEO to justice. Everything that happened prior would suggest that government and law enforcement was firmly in the pockets of people like the villain. I can't remember if this was in the book or if this is a Spielbergism.

[Volnutt]

Saw Ready Player One last week with a friend. This time, I had actually read the book a while ago- too long to really keep track of where the movie diverges. I felt like the book was pretty badly written but enjoyable enough. I wonder how much lasting power the dystopia/ 80's nostalgia combination will have. Also SPOILER ALERT I found that the dystopian angle was severely undermined by the sudden appearance of righteous police at the end to bring the evil CEO to justice. Everything that happened prior would suggest that government and law enforcement was firmly in the pockets of people like the villain. I can't remember if this was in the book or if this is a Spielbergism.

As I recall, the Sixers are not really punished in the book. Wade just gains control of Oasis and bans them all with the implication that he'll keep them at bay in the real world from now on (I always kind of wondered if Halliday's prize was really legal lol, though I guess it doesn't really matter in dystopia land).

My main issue with the book is that Wade is kind of a creepy little "nice guy" drip (much like his creator *cough*) who won't take a break up for an answer. Was that any better in the movie?