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Is there not already an F+/-?

suspiciouscoffee said:

Is there not already an F+/-?

Nope, no such thing exists in the A, B, C, D, and F grading scale.

moviefreakedmind said:

suspiciouscoffee said:

Is there not already an F+/-?

Nope, no such thing exists in the A, B, C, D, and F grading scale.

That’s because F stands for “Fail”, so less than 50%

Smithers said:

moviefreakedmind said:

suspiciouscoffee said:

Is there not already an F+/-?

Nope, no such thing exists in the A, B, C, D, and F grading scale.

That’s because F stands for “Fail”, so less than 50%

Usually less than 60% in most institutions.

Star Trek (2009)

After relentlessly trashing the idea of a Star Trek reboot for years, I finally caved and decided to give it a shot.

I actually quite enjoyed it. A-

suspiciouscoffee said:

Star Trek (2009)

After relentlessly trashing the idea of a Star Trek reboot for years, I finally caved and decided to give it a shot.

I actually quite enjoyed it. A-

J.J. Abrams seems to have pleased both old and new Trekkies with his 2009 one. The older ones hated Into Darkness but the new ones still liked it. Beyond looks like it’s going to move the entire fanbase back to square one, although I’m only judging by the trailer.

The newer fans seemed unaware it was a remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. 😉

I liked it, and didn’t mind that it was stealing everything from WOK. I have low standards though.

Smithers said:

suspiciouscoffee said:

Star Trek (2009)

After relentlessly trashing the idea of a Star Trek reboot for years, I finally caved and decided to give it a shot.

I actually quite enjoyed it. A-

J.J. Abrams seems to have pleased both old and new Trekkies with his 2009 one. The older ones hated Into Darkness but the new ones still liked it. Beyond looks like it’s going to move the entire fanbase back to square one, although I’m only judging by the trailer.

I kept reading articles saying Beyond was going to “return the franchise to its roots” and I got excited. Then I saw the trailer…

That’s comforting. I guess I have to watch Into Darkness sometime between now and Beyond’s release. Sigh…

The Silver Chalice (1954), aka the film leading man Paul Newman once took out a full-page newspaper ad to urge people to not watch during its first TV showing.

The plot is about a Romanized Greek sculptor named Basil, who is hired by Joseph of Arimathea to forge a silver reliquary-type covering to hold the Holy Grail. Specifically, Joseph wants Basil to carve the likenesses of the Apostles and Jesus into the silver cup.

Naturally, as a handsome young man played by Paul Newman, Basil is pursued by not one but two lovely ladies: the buxom blonde ex-slave Helena (Debra Paget), whom he knew as a child, and who is now concubine to the evil magician Simon; and Joseph’s petite brunette granddaughter Deborah (Natalie Wood with an outrageously fake accent).

Meanwhile Simon, an alcoholic with delusions of grandeur, conceives a scheme to discredit Christianity by turning himself into a messiah figure who performs miracles (re: magic tricks) in public. Chief among these are to be stealing the Holy Grail and crushing it in his hands (because: evil!) and pretending to fly around a tall tower using cleverly hidden wires and a palette-swapped Superman costume.

However, just before a scheduled demonstration of his “flying” for Roman emperor Nero, Simon gets so drunk that he decides not to use the harness and fly via his own magic. Pavement gets splattered. Nero, ever villanious, has Helena pushed from the tower as well to see if she can do what Simon could not.

The film is notable in a couple of respects: one, when Basil travels to Rome to meet St. Peter and model his likeness for the Grail, he stays at a hostel maintained by Cephus the innkeper. Cephus evidently knows Peter, and promises repeatedly to introduce him to Basil.

However, delays keep piling up, and finally Basil asks why Peter won’t meet him. Cephus replies that Peter will see Basil when he’s ready. You’ve probably guessed by now that Cephus is actually Peter himself. (“Yoda. You seek Yoda.”)

The other notable thing is that, after Simon’s death at the tower, the citizens of Rome start a riot and begin looting houses. During the melee, the Holy Grail is stolen from Peter’s inn, and Basil is left with only the carving of Jesus’ face which he had been ready to attach to the silver chalice. Very Last Crusade.

Also, according to The Complete Making of Indiana Jones, an early draft of LC had the Grail Knight knock off one edge of the wooden chalice found by Indy to reveal a golden inner core. This was probably inspired by the Paul Newman film, though it kind of spoils the moral.

Rating: 6.75/10 wax apostle heads.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that early in the movie, young Basil carves a wooden ring with a lion-head crest for young Helena, and that’s how he recognizes her years later. I guess GL was still cribbing from this movie come the prequels.

Superman Returns.

I was at Walmart and saw a “Triple Feature” pack of Superman I, II (Donner), and Returns on blu for $10 and I bought it immediately. Hadn’t actually watched Returns since it came out about a decade ago, and I didn’t remember much.

I can’t tell if they tried to keep the continuity of the 2 (1.5?) Donner movies or all 4 Reeve movies or what. They kept Marlon Brando’s Jor El, and put quite a few references to the old movies, but at times this movie contradicts them. They say he’s been gone for 5 years but it was actually at least 20 years. This is a world of cell phones and computers, and yet the only person who seems to have aged is Perry White.

Maybe they were going for the comic book existence where nobody ever ages.

The son of Superman thing was weird. The movie wants you to think it was a giant plot twist, but it was pretty obvious from the start.

The CGI hasn’t aged very well.

It’s a pretty fun movie though. Way ahead of Man of Steel. Superman is capable of happiness, which is nice.

B

Definitely checking it out now, especially since it appeared on Aussie Netflix.

suspiciouscoffee said:

[Superman] Returns . . . came out about a decade ago

Wow, I can’t believe how fast time flies!

Just rewatched the 35mm Jurassic Park and the DVD of The Lost World today, because my mother wanted to watch through all four films again (1&2 today, 3&4 tomorrow). JP was just as enjoyable as ever before. The Lost World, on the other hand, just gets worse every time I watch it. It’s just such a cash in sequel; it has no cinematic value.

Jurassic Park – A

The Lost World: Jurassic Park – C-

Dek Rollins said:

Jurassic Park – A

The Lost World: Jurassic Park – C-

Agreed, I actually prefer JP 3 to The Lost World, because it is a bad, fun movie, whereas The Lost World is a bad, boring movie.

The Village - B

I actually liked the plot twist, I didn’t know where it was going until the third act started to unravel, I don’t know why everyone hates on this one

Smithers said:

The Village - B

I actually liked the plot twist, I didn’t know where it was going until the third act started to unravel, I don’t know why everyone hates on this one

I don’t remember it well, but it was certainly better than most of Shayamans’ post-Signs movies. Apparently no one likes Signs anymore, but I thought it was pretty good.

^I like both of those as well. Though it’s been quite a while since I watched signs, and even longer since The Village, so my opinions may change upon a rewatch.