Last movie seen — Page 456

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

I liked it a lot. Maybe not as much as the first, though. Pacing’s not great, but the character stuff builds well on the first. It also has more visual style than the entire rest of the MCU, which I appreciate.

GOTG 2 is such a funny movie, helped by the fact that it has arguably the best villain in an MCU movie to date.

one69chev said:

Just got back from seeing GOTG 2 with the fam. Pretty good overall, but not my favorite Marvel movie. There were definitely some Man of Steel-esque moments, which surprised me a bit. Being brain dead won’t help you enjoy the film, but a sense of humor might, ;-D

What do you mean by man-of-steel-Esque moments?

The ultimate way to see Blade Runner is theatrically. The final cut print is amazing and when the sound is run very loud it almost pulses. But the DC print is even better and is in my eyes the definitive BR experience save only for the missing violent shots.

MIB II
I had forgotten how dull this was. A bored and late retread of the original.
2 out of four.
MIB III
Finally saw this and felt it was really unnecessary. The present day scenes feel rather tacked on and once J jumps back it’s still the same old “find one alien who’s gong to wreck everything”. I did truly enjoy Brolin as young K as it was a great performance in character instead of some CG nightmare (listening here LFL?)
But the ending was truly just a final twist that was tacked on there and to me at least doesn’t achieve the significance it wanted.
2 1/2 out of 4.

Sony is apparently going to reboot the franchise. Wonderful…

LaLa Land.
I tried to avoid it…and then I was talked into seeing it.
I’m not a musical guy first and foremost but I can appreciate them and the artistry behind them. But this is really not one of those. This is some kind of weird modern “throwback” that doesn’t have one iota of real lasting significance. It also has such a wildly uneven tone that the movie itself can’t seem to make up its mind about what it wants to be. And being a geek I found the camerawork rather off putting as it is a fake CinemaScope cropping of a regular Panavision shoot and a film where the cinematographer does not prowl around in swirling choreographed moves but rather swoons around like an idiot.

Some people love this and good for them but I’m really not one of those.
I found it a shame that it was even a Best Picture nominee.
(Admittedly I audibly griped when I saw the unexplained green lit curtain in the character’s apartment. A nod to great films is one thing…but stealing that…augh!)

Saw II

Okay, I got sucked back in to this franchise. I was surprised to see that this film wasn’t particularly bad, but sadly not as gripping as the original. I really liked Tobin Bell’s expanded role, and Donnie Wahlberg wasn’t bad, but I didn’t feel any of the victims had the fun interplay that Dr Gordon and Adam had in the first installment. But it had some cool traps and the editing was much improved so, eh, I’ll give it a pass.

6/10

Saw III

Not the best. Upped the gore and splatter, at the expense of a good story and interesting characters. Had some good moments but didn’t do it for me.

4/10

Flash Gordon (1980) - Gordon’s still alive!!!

a fun and camp sci-fi adventure with some great ham performances and delivery of lines. Cult classic 😃

El Mariachi (1992) – ★★★ (of ☆☆☆☆)

Saw IV

Pretty lame.

4/10

TV’s Frink said:

I guess you’re a completionist.

Or you’re into the whole self-punishment thing.

Bit o’ both.

Alien (1979)

I like it a lot.

The Others (2001)

Pretty good! Doesn’t feel particularly special but entertaining and engaging throughout with effective suspense. Nice composition and lighting too.

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia! (1974)

This is one of the most divisive films I know of. It’s not like a Kubrick film were, even if someone doesn’t like the film, they still praise the craftsmanship. People either think this is a great film, or a violent piece of garbage. BMHAG isn’t a pretty film. The characters aren’t really that likable. Bennie, played by the immensely underrated Warren Oates, is a loser and while I don’t feel he’s evil, he’s not someone who always does the right thing. But, Warren did such an amazing job making him feel human. Oates is one of those actors I will watch, even if I know the movie will be bad, because I feel like he did so much, even if he had so little to work with. Sam Peckinpah and Monte Hellman both really gave him his best work. I appreciate that they saw what a great character actor he was and cast him accordingly.

Anyway, BMHAG!, like most of Peckinpah’s work, is an ugly portrait of humanity. Sam didn’t make films about heroic types. He doesn’t show the heroic sheriff that stops that bad rustlers. Instead he films those dirty rustlers, and gives you a glimpse into their soul. You’re given a chance to see their humanity. Sam wasn’t the first to do that with a bad character, but he was the first that did it in the way he did. He doesn’t give you the sad backstory of why they turned bad, but you get to empathize with them. The character of Bennie isn’t a villain, but he’s not a good guy either. I’d say more about the character, but the film must really be seen and judged by the viewer.

This is one of my favorite movies, and I’ll probably only grow to appreciate it.