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Last movie seen — Page 283

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Batman: Year One (2011) - Just like The Dark Knight Returns really underwhelming stuff. At least this wasn't stupid. I've not read Frank Miller's comics so maybe the comic versions are amazing, but either they don't translate from page to screen well at all, or the translation is done very poorly; they're so bland and forgettable. Stick with Mask of the Phantasm or Under the Red Hood, those are much more solid animated Batman films.

Why did Catwoman have to be there anyway?

5 out of 10 Bat...things. I dunno.

Gladiator (2000) - Yawn. Y'know, I realize it's hard to do, but: can we just admit that Ridley Scott is not a very good director? People say Alien this and Blade Runner that, but at the end of the day, his filmography has far more stinkers than you (want to) remember. Gladiator is arguably one of them: a bland and overly predictable swords and sandals flick with dated CGI, a bad script, boring characters, poorly shot and edited action scenes and an unnecessarily long running time (just because Ben Hur and Spartacus were long films doesn't mean you have to make your film almost equally as long). 

4 out of 10 lines about how disappointed you are in your son.

Man on Fire (2004) - Despite a very strong first act that focuses almost exclusively on the relationship between Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning's characters, once the inevitable kidnapping starts it turns into a(n even more) simplistic and obnoxiously edited version of Taken. It has possibly some of the most annoying editing I've seen in a film since Moulin Rouge!. Despite the solid acting and first act, I can't help but kind of hate this.

4.9 out of 10 Creasy bears.

The Rock (1996) - A great action film. I keep forgetting Michael Biehn is in this, and he's really good in the limited amount of screen time he's given. There are enough Cage-isms and Connery "f*ckin' idiot"s here to keep you entertained, despite its duller moments in the first act.

Also, gotta love that car chase.

8 out of 10 green balls.

Hannibal (2001) - Delightfully stupid. Cartoony gore, Hopkins and Oldman duking it out in a ham-off (and - to my surprise - Oldman ends up winning), some of unnecessarily funny moments, and a giant gaping plothole: how the hell is Hannibal Lecter, a man just placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, able to travel by plane...TWICE? Even with this film's nonsensical logic, that's a stretch. Kind of weird Scott was picked to direct this anyway, his style is almost a complete opposite to Jonathan Demme's. It's a guilty pleasure.

4.2 out of 10 man-eating pigs.

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You really need to read the original graphic novels. I don't know how they managed to stay fairly faithful but at the same time sap all of the entertainment out of those stories.

What killed Dark Knight Returns is they failed to put any of the emphasis or emotion into their delivery of the lines. Just awful execution.

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Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

I don't know why, but I liked FWWM more the second time around than the first. Perhaps seeing the deleted scenes helped improve my opinion of the film?

8/10

Absurda (2007) - 7/10

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001) - 8/10

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

The animation is top-notch. The writing is meh. Any scenes that don't feature Maleficent, the bickering fairies, or the drunk minstrel are rather pretty boring.

8/10

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

I wish this film had been titled The Evil Queen with the Queen/Witch as the main character instead of Snow White; her scenes are the best ones in the whole movie.

8.3/10

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Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)- 5/10

Not super great. Doesn't really capture the mood or themes of the show very well and just seems superfluous. Generally a disappointment. 

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Never Say Never Again.  Barely tolerable even with Connery in it.

It has none of the flair or glamour of the eon films no pre credit and no music number.  No John Barry music.

Looks really low budget the premise of the aged spy coming out of retirement is ridiculous.

Bad knockoff of Thunderball. 

Hard to believe the Cinematographer of Raiders and the director of Empire Strikes Back produced this turkey.

2 stars out of 5.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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Ring By Spring (2014)

Caught this on the Hallmark channel.  A typical chick flick.  By chick flick standards, it wasn't bad; both of the leads were plenty tolerable.  However, the plot was just too insipid for me, and not even the occasional charming moment could save this one.

My grade: 3/5 stars.

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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skyjedi2005 said:

Hard to believe the Cinematographer of Raiders and the director of Empire Strikes Back produced this turkey.

You mean Irvin Kershner? The guy everyone says has never made a remarkable movie outside of TESB?

Yeah, I'm not finding that hard to believe.

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It's not a perfect film, by all means, but when you compare it to it's competition...

When I was beginning my edit of NSNA, I came to the realization that it had a lot going for it, but didn't touch Thunderball as far as classic Bond feel. Thunderball just drags and drags, where I feel NSNA has a much tighter pacing, but Thunderball has everything that NSNA needs. It's got the music, the look, the charm, Q, M, Moneypenny and all the quirks that make a Eon film a Bond film. This film didn't even let him have a Walther PPK.

I think the issue with Thunderball is the overly long underwater sequences. I have a much harder time focusing on the film. In fact one of the last times I watched it, I fell asleep.

I think in order to make the perfect Thunderball/NSNA, one would need to simply take Thunderball and trim the fat.

I think NSNA was neat to see Connery go at it again, but it would've been a better treat to have seen him in a different Bond plot. NSNA was made out of spite and bad blood from all involved parties.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

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Tobar said:

You really need to read the original graphic novels. I don't know how they managed to stay fairly faithful but at the same time sap all of the entertainment out of those stories.

 I will. I'm not really into comics (or graphic novels), but I keep hearing great things about them, so I'm interested in checking them out.

DuracellEnergizer said:

skyjedi2005 said:

Hard to believe the Cinematographer of Raiders and the director of Empire Strikes Back produced this turkey.

You mean Irvin Kershner? The guy everyone says has never made a remarkable movie outside of TESB?

Yeah, I'm not finding that hard to believe.

 Oh c'mon guys, RoboCop 2 ain't that bad. I found it enjoyable, at least.

I do prefer Octopussy over Never Say Never Again, although not by a whole lot. They're both bad, but at least Octopussy had the familiar cast and music (NSNA's score is horrendous). The first half hour of Octopussy is actually pretty solid, I thought, before it turns into a big slog. Although I do prefer seeing Bond disguised as a clown than seeing him play a videogame with the villain. 

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Was watching Entrapment last night, and thought with a few tweaks, it could have been a 007 being lured/forced out of retirement story.

I think there were more than a few Bond veterans working behind the scenes on this film, and one actor from A View To A Kill had a small role as well.

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Where were you in '77?

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putting this back on the front page.

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Warbler said:

putting this back on the front page.

 Never heard of it, was it any good?

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The Homesman (2014)

I'm a pretty big fan of Tommy Lee Jones as an actor, and recently as a director. His film Three Burials for Melquiades Estrada was a wonderful film. It reminded me of some of Peckinpah's better work, but that's another discussion entirely.

The Homesman is his latest film, and looking at the poster, it appears to be a Western, but isn't your father's Western. The only thing you could consider Western, is the setting and attire. This film is a brutal look at life during westward expansion. Instead of the warm colors of John Ford's films, we are given a cold, harsh reality.

It's not the easiest film to watch, but it's definitely a good film. This doesn't paint the romantic view of the west that is in so many films. It is also not playing for the Academy by giving you a "Sad for the sake of being sad" experience that so many of our wonderful Oscar winning pictures have.

I'm not going to say what all it's about, but I will say, I have been thinking about it, ever since I watched it 2 days ago, and that's saying something for a newer film.

I highly recommend this film, but watch it by yourself the first time you see it.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

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EyeShotFirst said:


watch it by yourself the first time you see it.

 Why?

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TV's Frink said:

EyeShotFirst said:


watch it by yourself the first time you see it.

 Why?

 I think it plays better by yourself. If you watch it with some mature people who won't crack a joke every five seconds, I guess it's okay.

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

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I happen to be married to a mature person so that's typically not a problem for me.

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TV's Frink said:

I happen to be married to a mature person so that's typically not a problem for me.

 The pieces of the puzzle are finally getting put together.

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EyeShotFirst said:

TV's Frink said:

EyeShotFirst said:


watch it by yourself the first time you see it.

 Why?

 I think it plays better by yourself. If you watch it with some mature people who won't crack a joke every five seconds, I guess it's okay.

 Well, I guess if I ever watch it, my father won't be allowed to be in the audience....

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Well, yet again it's taken forever for me to post my LMS. So this is what I've watched so far this year. I will try to be as brief as possible.

Unbroken (2014) - Rather unfortunately not good depiction of a great story. Beautiful cinematography can't make up for clunky structure/pacing and character development. C

Wild (2014) - Surprisingly great. Expected a cheesy nature walk movie but got a compelling, introspective character study. A-

Star Wars (1977) - Cool movie, you guys should watch it. A+

Boyhood (2014) - Fantastic. Love it when a film lives up to its hype. An emotionally engaging film experience like no other. A

Selma (2014) - Highly commendable film in most regards. A little anti-climatic, though. A-

Road to El Dorado (2000) - Fun, but slight in every sense of the word. B-

Inherent Vice (2014) - Crazy good time. Very funny, very weird, very enjoyable. Not for everyone, but I loved it. A

School of Rock (2003) - Quality picture, wished I hadn't taken so long to watch it. Very entertaining. A-

Murder by Death (1976) - Structurally inept (the first act is half the movie) and politically incorrect, but funny nonetheless. B-

Knife in the Water (1962) - Finely crafted and tense film. Impressive debut film for Polanski. B+

Hoop Dreams (1994) - Quite unlike any documentary I've seen before. Comprehensive and moving. A

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - Sad, but sweet and funny. Great cast and killer ending. A-

American Sniper (2014) - Not very good at all. Don't even know where to start. Bradley Cooper is the only thing that makes it worth watching on FX in two years. C

Five Easy Pieces (1970) - Well made film with some great performances. B

Closely Watched Trains (1966) - Strange but enjoyable film. Interesting take on the lives of people in an occupied country. B

A Man Escaped (1956) - Involving film portraying a prison break as a personal experience. B+

Blade Runner (1982) - Final Cut on the big screen, 35mm print. A film that just gets better every time you watch it. Amazing. A+

Life Itself (2014) - Absorbing tale of everyone's favorite film critic. I wish they could have gone more into his favorite films and his thoughts on film in general, but this is a nice (and somewhat moving) summary of his life. B+

The Interview (2014) - Kind of wish they'd swapped out some of the silly humor for more serious satirical criticism, but I still enjoyed it. B

Ghost in the Shell (1995) - An extremely interesting film that brings up some thought provoking concerts and themes. Just wish they'd realized how hard it is to understand what's going on. B+

Run Lola Run (1998) - Like a roller coaster. Don't care much for the characters, but, it's such a fun ride, I don't mind. B+

Jodorowsky's Dune (2014) - Such a cool movie. Passion and excitement are bursting at the seams. Makes you wish for what could have been. B+

Akira (1988) - Superb film in every way. An instant favorite. A

A Most Violent Year (2014) - Engrossing crime thriller like no other. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are in top form and prove their status as some of the best working actors. A

Obvious Child (2014) - Sweet and funny vehicle for up-coming star Jenny Slate. B

Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - Sad. So very sad. Perhaps too sad. A-

Two Lane Blacktop (1971) - Very weird film. Interesting filmmaking going on in the 70s. B

Chef (2014) - Charming, but slight picture. Some laughs, smiles all around, but not entirely satisfying plot-wise. B-

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - Your standard Wes Anderson fare. Great character dynamics and performances. A lot of fun. Don't know why it took me so long to watch, but now I have seen all his films. A-

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - Way ahead of its time in cinematographic technique. Thrilling, iconic film. A

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) - So much fun! A pitch-perfect homage/parody of one of my favorite film franchises, James Bond. A little cliche, but the humor and spectacle more than make up for it. B+

The Last Laugh (1924) - Another cutting edge silent film. Impressive lack of inter-titles. It's a little drawn out, and the ending is very silly, but you have to appreciate the art of it. B+

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) - I was really hoping this'd be good. The first one was, and this had Adam Scott, a favorite of mine. But... it wasn't. D+

Virunga (2014) - Finely crafted and captivating documentary. Some beautiful shots in there and a particularly well edited sequence towards the end. I wish it was a bit longer so we could learn more about the gorillas and the wildlife of the park (the emotional hook) but the political issues that drive the film are provocative enough that you still feel affected at the end. B+

Hope I didn't forget anything!

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^I think I should adopt your method for rating movies. Giving a movie an A/B/C/etc. rating would probably reflecting my feelings for a film better than my "__ out of ten" ratings.

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Been doing it recently. Feels more right to me, for whatever reason.

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Stupid Netflix.  I watched just about all of 88 thinking it was a parallel universe movie instead of a non-linear movie, just because the description included the phrase "different timelines."  And I liked it much better once I realized it was a non-linear movie.

I'm sure Duracell will get a kick out of this.