Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It (Part XXVI)

[Oscar Acosta]

Jurassic World

Not sure why I expected a lot more out of this thing. Too many questions because I zoned in and out of boredom and didn't pay attention. Why did that giant dinosaur and others have some sort of virtual reality headgear? And how in the hell do they understand a HUD map display? Or compasses? Why was that giant white alpha dinosaur bulletproof? Why did the raptors attack Chris Pratt with their headgear only to realize oh wait we like this guy, he can just calmly remove my oculus rift? Why are raptors and TRexes all of a sudden teammates with fighting moves they had to practice ninja style? Didn't they hate each other in JP1?

3/10. 2 points for the head shaking laughs. 1 point for the aunt of those kids she keeps abandoning being kinda hot.

 

[OzzyFan]

Jurassic World

Not sure why I expected a lot more out of this thing. Too many questions because I zoned in and out of boredom and didn't pay attention. Why did that giant dinosaur and others have some sort of virtual reality headgear? And how in the hell do they understand a HUD map display? Or compasses? Why was that giant white alpha dinosaur bulletproof? Why did the raptors attack Chris Pratt with their headgear only to realize oh wait we like this guy, he can just calmly remove my oculus rift? Why are raptors and TRexes all of a sudden teammates with fighting moves they had to practice ninja style? Didn't they hate each other in JP1?

3/10. 2 points for the head shaking laughs. 1 point for the aunt of those kids she keeps abandoning being kinda hot.

I don't know if it was the actors or the director's fault, but I really couldn't stand some parts of it and felt it was off key(or no chemistry or off flow?) DBHoward in the 1st half of the movie and that Japanese zillionaire his whole part of the movie. It felt like they had some good ideas, but no idea how to implement them properly or give them a proper dialogue to run through. But yeah, it asks more questions than it answers and feels like a thrown together CGI/action blockbuster film. I am surprised at how many people I've talked to that saw it when it came out and loved it.

 

[Ainec]

The Assassin 0/10
I hate this movie so much. Makes Poetry look like a real high paced thriller

 

[McMozesmadness]

I've been on a bit of a binge as of late.

This is from the last few weeks.

Banksy does New York - 7.5/10
- I enjoyed this one. I liked watching hipster art types try to decipher Banksy's work

Zootopia - 6.5/10
- Only gets 6.5 because it didn't live up to the hype. Very preachy, but still a fun ride.

The Croods - 7/10
- I watched this on the recommendation of a friend. Wasn't sure about it, but I really enjoyed it.

Good Will Hunting - 9/10
- I can't believe I hadn't seen this. So many fun characters and a great story.

Team Foxcatcher - 7.5/10
- watched this after watching Foxcatcher, which I loved. This documentary is the perfect compliment. Also, Steve Carell (and his make-up crew) deserve a ton of credit for pulling of the character of John du Pont

The Queen of Versailles - 9/10
- Sometimes you feel bad, sometimes you feel happy. Really fun documentary, in part because the story changes halfway through the documentary process.


All of these, with the exception of Zootopia are on Netflix Canada.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Marvel's The Avengers - A

When you're watching the MCU in a short period of time, you get to a movie like The Avengers and you can just appreciate what kind of universe Marvel was trying to set up and the payoff this movie brings. I remember when I saw this when it originally came out and I loved it because it was these superheroes teaming up against (At this point) Marvel's best villain in Loki and this was as close to an event movie as you can get. We didn't need origin stories, we didn't need dull moments of character set up. We needed the team to join together and that's what this movie does.

Watching it now, I appreciate it more for not just the fun, but those little character moments that you will see again. The tension between Captain America and Tony Stark, for instance, really shines here and brings me back to when I saw Civil War and the reason for that movie. I also loved seeing Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow and seeing more of that backstory develop.

The action here was also really top notch. That scenes over New York is what makes this such an epic climax to this event movie. It was such a big moment that has repercussions in the future films as well as Netflix's Jessica Jones and Daredevil.

This movie also maintained the fun, but didn't overdo it like Age of Ultron was trying to do. Loved the stuff with Caulson, and the two Pepper Pots cameos were great. This movie is just as good now as it was when I first saw it. Watching all the movies together in a short time, I think it might come off as better than when I first saw it.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Good Will Hunting - 9/10
- I can't believe I hadn't seen this

It's not your fault.

 

[HanSolo]

X-Men Apocalypse I'll do it more in note form as I don't feel like typing up a traditional review
[SPOIL]
-Woof the hamfisted character development with Magneto's family was so incredibly predictable. As soon as I saw him having a wife and daughter he didn't have before and he was being all good and working an honest job, I knew they'd die. It didn't take longer than 5 minutes after this realization for his daughter to die.

-The Cyclops origin stuff was neat.

-Mystique spends a lot of time not in her base form or disguised as other people. Gotta maximize that J-Law screen time.

-The Rose Byrne mind wipe stuff felt cliched and I never saw the point of why they couldn't know each other. Maybe someone could explain?

-This movie sure doesn't hurt my Sophie Turner crush.

-This movie suffers big time from a villain who is too strong. He could snap his fingers and murder anyone he wants, yet when it comes time to fight the good guys, they actually stand a chance. It's never a good idea in my opinion to have a villain as strong as a god. Because unless you've got another god powered hero to counter him, it just seems silly to have the villain hold back. And what did he even need four horsemen for?

-Another great Quicksilver speed scene but given the context it was a little too silly for what happened immediately before it.

-The writing is sloppy as a whole so many bases are covered with far fetched explanations.

-I liked Oscar Issac as the villain but I didn't really like the villain much as a whole as I said above he was too strong to be *****footing around the way he did.

-It was cool seeing Wolverine again. His reveal scene was some awesome action.

-The Jean Grey/Wolverine meeting was one of the movie's better moments.

-I'm not crazy of the retconning Mystique into a hero. I don't mind it necessarily because I feel this trilogy has given her more depth than she had when she was basically a super henchman for Magneto in the original X-men trilogy, but I've always known her as a villain.

-Two of the four horsemen were arguably pretty lame. Psylocke and Angel were clearly not as strong as Storm and Magneto

-The conclusion was so ridiculously contrived. I can't even sum it all up. I'd probably need to see it again but so much of it was just silliness. I mean I get it, you can't just pound on a god (though Quicksilver did his damn best) but still.

-I don't really like how this retcons the canon story and seems to try to link the past (new trilogy) to the original trilogy. What happens to Mystique and Magneto that they become villains again? I mean enough happens in this movie that it suggests that there's continuity between Apocalypse and X-Men 1...or are the future events just changed now? I don't get it.[/SPOIL]

Overall, I liked it better than X-Men 3 but only by a little bit. It was really sloppy and the handling of the emotional stuff was rather weak. The action is good, but as a film as a whole it's missing what First Class and Days of Future Past had. Big time. Unfortunate. It was almost a perfectly solid trilogy start to finish.


5/10

 

[ProspectsSTC]

Neighbors 2: 4/10. Could feel something hitting me over the head the whole time, got a bit preachy (all men are pigs)
The Nice Guys: 8.4/10, really enjoyed it, not as good as kiss kiss bang bang but still a really fun movie for me.
X-men apocalypse: 7.5, worth watching I suppose, the forest scene by far the peak.
Popstar: 6/10, been a lonely island fan for a long time, many great jokes in here and awesome songs, a bit predictable at times and the slapstick didn't always pay off.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Iron Man 3 - B-

Watching this movie almost immediately after watching Avengers feels like a big step down, despite the fact that there was a lot to like about IM3. I guess after the big epic movie event of Avengers, the thing that came after it would feeler smaller, but IM3's drop was very noticeable. Still, while I liked Iron Man, and thought IM2 was somewhat decent, this one feels much more in between. The climatic action was probably the best of the three IM movies, and I've always loved this kick ass soundtrack. Also, you can't go wrong with Downy Jr. as Tony Stark, which is always a highlight. Also, I'm glad they dealt with Tony's PTSD after the stuff in New York. That was actually one of the highlights of the movie I wish they explored more of.

However, what almost kills this movie is the whole Mandarin thing. Here was a scary menacing villain and it was portrayed by Ben Kingsley for heaven sake, and how they dealt with it was massively disappointing.

 

[McGhostbuster]

Cell - 5.5/10 - Fairly bland translation to film of the same name Stephen King novel. The book itself wasn't King's best work either, but I liked it as it was his version of the zombie apocalypse. As for the film John Cusack and Sam L. Jackson take the lead roles, maybe trying to rekindle the success of 1408. Misses the mark with a lower budget and a script.

13 Hours - 6.5/10 - Michael Bay esque movie with less fun. Explosions, gun fights and a touch of drama. Bay has a knack for set sequences but usually falls flat on the character development, this film being status quo.

Man from UNCLE - 7.5/10 - Slick spy film based on the show from way before I was born. Held off on watching this as it has Henry Cavill in it and he blows hard in Man Of Steel. This movie he has charisma and charm off the charts in a better actor than Dwayne Johnson kind of way. I firmly believe that Zack Snyder can't direct. That's beside the point anyways. The film didn't get much press, but I'd argue it's an underrated film based off what I've seen. Guy Ritchie film to boot too. Plus Alicia Vikander is smoking hot and a great actress.

 

[Thucydides]

The Nice Guys -

8.7/10

Gosling is the straw that stirs the drink in this movie. Wasn't the best story but it was fun and entertaining.

 

[OzzyFan]

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS!!!!!!!

The Martian
3 to 3.5 out of 4 stars
WARNING: SOME SPOILERS!!!!!!!

It was an excellent movie, as far as comedy, entertainment, attention commanding, acting, and storytelling go. That said, it feels completely illogical on numerous fronts, even for a Sci-Fi movie involving Mars. Matt Damon's character being that intelligent, charismatic, knowledgeable, witty, happy, 1-liner throwing, etc for the majority of his time on screen (albeit, a couple of those things are necessary to survive in his situation) especially throughout a survival mode journey in which he has little to no human contact and was injured a bit and had some crappy circumstances and odds. Damon's character, a botanist, also knowing the rocket fuel to water thing(biochemist knowledge?), the solar cells and battery "attaching" (engineering knowledge?), etc. And the crew, just seemed mostly too full of morale and happiness given the amount of time they've spent away from earth and together, not wearing on each other much at all, even "just 2" of them. And of course, the earth whipping and resupplying ship thing, the extra XXXdays in space, the whole "iron man suit thing", and everything working just right along the journey for Damon to live and be rescued and in decent health. Everything just feels like a quadrillion to 1 shot, near infinity to 1 of happening. It just didn't feel realistic, even if technology allowed it possible. That said, as previously mentioned, it was a very entertaining and fun story once you recognize/get past all that.


The Conjuring 2
2.5 out of 4 stars

For a "horror" movie, it has a quality story, solid main character development, and interesting enough material. Not a ton of scary moments, but a lot of creepiness and jump scares throughout (obviously some of redundant style if you are knee deep in the genre). Good storytelling and acting, would recommend if you aren't a horror buff and want to see "an inspired by true story" that is solidly done with a story worth paying attention to throughout, although most likely recommend on DVD instead of in theaters(mostly because the vast majority of people are disappointed by "horror" movies, might not be worth the ticket price for most). Although obvious warning, if you aren't christian or are anti-christian, you will dislike the repeated christian themes and overtones in the movie.

 

[Voight]

Donnie Brasco

7/10

A real classic. One of those movies I feel could make a good TV show. Lefty is a typical Robbie De Niro role but Al Pacino does a great job. Depp is awesome, honestly with this and Black Mass he should do more gangster movies. One thing I noticed is how his voice has not changed between the two, 18 years.

One thing I would have liked is for it to have more things going on, i.e like Goodfellas where the crew is doing new criminal actitivities all the time.

 

[Philly85*]

7/10 for a real classic? seems a bit odd lol

 

[Led Zappa]

7/10 for a real classic? seems a bit odd lol

Plenty of classic movies I'd rewatch that I'd never give a 10. Don't quite get your point.


Brooklyn 7.5 - Very good period character story.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Genuinely surprised at the positive consensus for "Nice Guys" here. I liked it but thought it'd get torn apart on this site

 

[Philly85*]

Plenty of classic movies I'd rewatch that I'd never give a 10. Don't quite get your point.


Brooklyn 7.5 - Very good period character story.

Yeah I mean, I get what you're saying and kind of agree, but Donnie Brasco is a long, well acted mobster flick with Pacino and Depp, amongst others. I don't think it's a classic by any means but for a serious drama I wouldn't think a 7/10 rating would constitute it being a "classic".

Oh well I'm rambling some ******** now.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Genuinely surprised at the positive consensus for "Nice Guys" here. I liked it but thought it'd get torn apart on this site

Thought it was great! Story is a bit of a mess, but I don't think the story is as important as the vibe that it's on, which really worked for me. Gosling was very good.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The Adventures of Hajji Baba
So a theater where I live runs an occasional program called Secret Cinema. $3, but you don't know what the movie is. It's often restorations of things that are rare and/or obscure, recent showings have been the Kit Carson doc on Dennis Hopper The American Dreamer and a 1960s Blake Edwards thriller called Experiment in Terror so it really pulls so oddities.

Last night's pick was The Adventures of Hajji Baba a 1954 film staring John Derek as the titular Hajji, a barber searching for adventure (yes, you read that right). Hajji meets a princess, she's betrothed to another, they ride across the dessert, encounter various groups of bandits, etc. Fairly standard 1950s adventure. Certainly not good, but not quite bad either. The acting is stiff and there is some unintentional humor. The princess, for instance, is "disguised" as a man at various points (i.e., they put her hair in a turban) and always 100% looks like a woman but people fall for the trick. There's also the classic Hollywood awkwardness of stilted white people playing like they're from the Middle East. It has an earworm of a theme song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0rkWGLvCTA) is sung by Nat King Cole and played CONSTANTLY through the movie. I swear I can't think of a movie that uses a single song more than this one did.

Big positive though - it was recently restored and in Cinemascope so the print was beautiful -- blue blue skies, light sand, pastel costumes. Really looked great.

Interesting viewing. It's sort of an in-between movie -- neither good enough nor bad enough to really have any lasting resonance. Makes you think about how many of those types of films are out there that could be lost to time.

 

[kihei]

When it comes to movies, to me the word "classic" describes a very loose semi-genre of old movies rather than expresses a complement of approval or acknowledgment (as in: Roger Federer has classic ground strokes). Thus, I would pan an awful lot of "classics": Meet Me in St. Louis; How Green Was My Valley; White Christmas, et al. Classics may often be very good movies, but frequently the evaluation of such films has more to do with nostalgia than with aesthetics.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Genuinely surprised at the positive consensus for "Nice Guys" here. I liked it but thought it'd get torn apart on this site

Thought it was great! Story is a bit of a mess, but I don't think the story is as important as the vibe that it's on, which really worked for me. Gosling was very good.

Yeah, definition of "good time at the movies" for me. Got a very strong rewatchability vibe from it as well, which isn't a huge surprise.

 

[OzzyFan]

The Gift (Edgerton/Bateman)
1.5 out of 4 stars

First 2/3 were slow, mostly boring, and dragging. Not full of rather important/intriguing stuff or happenings either for the most part. Last 1/3 "saved it", had a good twist and good ending given the Mystery/Suspense drama, somewhat predictable but not "easily" predictable ending. Makes you think about a couple things in life. I was surprised this got over 90% critics approval on RT and over 75% audience approval. Rather slow and not full of a lot of twists/turns/intrigue for the beginning 2/3 of the movie. If your curious about the twists, just google them. I wouldn't say the movie is worth sitting through, even on TV, but the twists and end story make you think about early life a bit, maybe not personally but indirectly for sure.

 

[Voight]

Yeah I mean, I get what you're saying and kind of agree, but Donnie Brasco is a long, well acted mobster flick with Pacino and Depp, amongst others. I don't think it's a classic by any means but for a serious drama I wouldn't think a 7/10 rating would constitute it being a "classic".

Oh well I'm rambling some ******** now.

I liked Goodfellas & Casino better, just to name two.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

High Rise

Went into this with some high-ish expectations. Thought director Ben Wheatley's Kill List was damn effective, I am a fan of Tom Hiddleston and the trailers just looked dynamite. Still processing it a bit the morning after, but feel sort of meh about it. Didn't dislike it - visually it's pretty interesting throughout though there seemed to be a little too many slow motion character looking right at the camera dance scenes. I dug the futuristic yet also 1960s/70s aesthetic. A couple of great uses of covers of Abba's SOS that will stick with me.
Didn't really engage with it much beyond that though. Rich oppress the poor, poor rise up, anarchy ensures. Fine, but nothing special.

The setting and general ideas and handful of scenes of gruesome medical procedures made me wish David Cronenberg had tackled this.

 

[kihei]

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 7A

This story about an awkward adolescent boy forced by his mother to befriend a dying girl received a very good score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a slightly higher audience approval rating. But its few detractors savaged it with uncharacteristic venom given how well the movie was received by others. I really enjoyed the film, but I had a mixed response to the negative views. I could readily see how some of its virtues could be easily turned against the film, but I don't think that is quite fair. Greg (Thomas Mann in a fine performance) makes a fetish out of low self-esteem and perpetual self-absorption. No one has to put him down because he will beat them to the punch. He is a character with defenses and strategies aimed at protecting himself from vulnerability; to say that he does not yet feel comfortable in his own skin is an understatement. He does say jerky things and some of his actions baffle even him, but his heart is in the right place. Or is it? Critics of the film see him as a self-centred, manipulative wuss who ultimately lets his friend down rather than support her when she needs it most. These naysayers also believe the focus of attention is misdirected--the movie should be about Rachel, the dying girl, not Greg, the imperfect friend. And many of these critics are really angry about it. I think that they are wrong on both counts. Adolescence is a time of bad judgements and quirky behaviour. Knowing what to do is not always clear; dealing with complex emotions such as Greg faces for the first time is something new and scary. He's not always capable of doing the right thing because he hasn't the maturity to see his fears for what they are--a defense mechanism that shuts him out rather than lets him in. He has almost outgrown these imperfections, but not quite yet. Rather than reprehensible, Greg seems to me a fully believable example of a male on the cusp of adulthood. And who says that all movies have to focus on the character who is dying as opposed to the character who is usually peripheral in such movies? I found this shift in focus refreshing. Impressively director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon shows a real command of the medium. He uses a variety of wide angle and fish eye lenses to establish distance between the two characters and he uses the frame beautifully to establish the gulf between them, especially early in their relationship. Gomez-Rejon is also not afraid of long silences which he uses very effectively as well. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is hardly flawless; the ending could be condensed for one thing. However fresh, well directed, well acted coming of age comedies are a rarity in Hollywood. This one's complexities should be savored.