RA Movie Thread (Read 5918 times)

    I hope my chick didn't put any of these movies in my Netflix cue, 'cause imma have to act like i don't WTF they are about when we watch them.


    Village people

      Jurassic World

       

      Nothing in Jurassic World holds a candle to the scene with the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Jeep in the first Jurassic Park film back in 1993. The dinosaurs are bigger this time around, the special effects are more elaborate, and there's more action all around, but the magic of that first film that made my jaw hit the floor and enabled me to suspend disbelief is no longer present. The filmmakers and the fictional amusement park staff in the film itself both could have benefited from a lesson about how bigger is not always better and about how less is more. Jurassic World is a fairly decent summer movie, especially for the seven dollars that I spent for the pre-noon matinee at the theater down the street, but it's certainly not a game-changer, because we have all seen everything in this movie before in the first film, and we have seen it done better in the first film. This time around, when a big dinosaur eye peered at kids who are trapped in a vehicle or when the driver of an escaping vehicle saw a dinosaur from an alarmingly close distance in a sideview mirror, I just sort of zoned out and started thinking about what I was going to eat for lunch after the movie or what I was going to prioritize when I return to work on Monday. Despite my criticisms, though, I do think that Jurassic World is a step up from the second and third film, and that, of all of the sequels, this is the one that quickens my pulse the most, since the human characters are interesting enough to follow. This one did not blow me away like the original 1993 film did, but you could do a lot worse if you're looking for a summer movie. Besides, huge dinosaurs are meant to be viewed on a big theater screen.

      I saw this movie in the weekend. A pretty accurate review, Jason. You can't beat dinosaurs eating people unless it is sharks eating people. The only thing that I wanted to mention was that while I agree that the first movie was the best in the series, I think part of the reason was the magic and newness of the idea that dinosaurs could be brought to life.  The park and dinosaurs had to be bigger and better because that magic was gone and they needed to keep people interested. Not much different than real life. I was worried when I noticed that the movie was 2 hrs long but it held my attention. Fun movie.

      BeeRunB


        Batman (1966)

        Adam West, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, Frank Gorshin, Cesar Romero

         

        Currently playing on AmazonPrime. The best Batman movie. Total fun. Smiles with some good laughs from end to end. Strong, over-the-top performances. The epitome of good camp. Great lines. Colorful. Still holds up, because it's just as nuts, weird, and AdamWesty as it was when I first saw it in the 70's. 

          Adam west? any relation to Jodi or Randy West?

          BeeRunB


            Adam west? any relation to Jodi or Randy West?

             

            You've never heard of the great Adam West, the best Batman?

             

              Of course i have son, i was just funnin'. Now, Horrible Bosses 2, sucks, don't bother to rent it. The best part of the movie is the out takes.

              FSocks


              KillJoyFuckStick

                Catching on some Netflix/Redbox offerings over the past week.

                 

                Midnight in Paris - Typically I'm not a big Woody Allen fan but this one is good, really good.  The characters are meaningful, the dialogue great and the cinematography top notch.  9/10 Socks.

                 

                Gone Girl - Kind of a hit and miss movie.  There are parts that I really enjoyed while other parts were da fuq?  6/10 Socks.

                You people have issues 

                  Amidst the summer blockbusters, a couple highly recommended sleepers.

                   

                  Love & Mercy

                  Brian Wilson biopic; goes back & forth between Paul Dano playing his younger self, and John Cusack playing him older. Apparently it was a very accurate depiction of his life. In fact they toned some things down, in some cases the reality was even stranger. Which is hard to believe; that was one seriously messed up dude. Scary-good scene-stealing supporting performance by Paul Giamatti as his psychotic, manipulative therapist.

                   

                  Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

                  High school loner-type (Earl is his partner in home-filmmaking) befriends girl in his class diagnosed with leukemia. Not your typical teen movie story, as the main character as narrator overtly states. Good mix of quirky humor and emotional depth; feels more real in that everyone doesn't always know the right thing to do or say. The scene stealer in this one is Nick Offerman as his very non-Ron Swanson-like dad.

                  Dave

                  mab411


                  Proboscis Colossus

                    Amidst the summer blockbusters, a couple highly recommended sleepers.

                     

                    Love & Mercy

                    Brian Wilson biopic; goes back & forth between Paul Dano playing his younger self, and John Cusack playing him older. Apparently it was a very accurate depiction of his life. In fact they toned some things down, in some cases the reality was even stranger. Which is hard to believe; that was one seriously messed up dude. Scary-good scene-stealing supporting performance by Paul Giamatti as his psychotic, manipulative therapist.

                     

                     

                    Saw a feature on some 60 Minutes-type show on this one, and am very anxious to see it.  I love John Cusack in just about any dramatic role I've seen him in, and Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks are pretty sure bets for me, too.  And I know next to nothing about the story (or I did before that news segment), always a plus for me in biopics.

                    "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

                       

                      Saw a feature on some 60 Minutes-type show on this one, and am very anxious to see it.  I love John Cusack in just about any dramatic role I've seen him in, and Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks are pretty sure bets for me, too.  And I kniow next to nothing about the story (or I did before that news segment), always a plus for me in biopics.

                       

                      +1000, for any movie "based on a true story". I like to know as little as possible about the subject, enjoy the movie, then immediately hit Wikipedia. (As well as the History vs. Hollywood site, if it shows up there.) I don't want any blatant inaccuracies to get in the way of a good film, but ultimately like to know the real story.

                       

                      I would say Dano was actually more of a standout in the movie than Cusack. Also heard the original plan was for a 3rd version of Brian Wilson, for the middle period when he got fat & laid in bed all day long, to be played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. They just cut it rather than recast. And you don't have to be a fan of Beach Boys music to enjoy the movie, but probably makes it that much better.

                      Dave

                      BeeRunB


                        Something, Anything (2013)

                        Netflix

                         

                        Really liked this quiet character study about a woman waking up and moving towards something real and tangible.

                         

                         

                        Primer (2004)

                        playing on Netflix

                         

                        A low budget ($7,000) sci-fi time travel flick that I watched through to the end because I thought it would all come together and make sense, but never did. The acting wasn't low-budget. The film quality was fine. It was energetic.  Even the machines they built were believable enough. The logic and mechanism of the time travel was never shown clearly enough, and even if it had been, there just wasn't any recognizable story, through-line or an arc for at least one character.  I love time travel flicks and don't need a huge scientific explanation of how it's done---heck, I love Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and it's phone booth time machine, kooky logic and how they played with it.  Show how it works (the characters don't have to understand why), show the rules, and then have fun with the paradoxes, but don't sacrifice the story. I read some reviews that thought this movie was a some sort of stroke of genius, but I think it was a frustrating mess. A mess I don't really want to go back through ten times to see if I can understand. Felt like the writer-director just chucked the bird at the audience for 2 hours while he pleasured himself with the other hand.

                         

                        Favorite time travel movies (including stuck in time):

                        Groundhog Day

                        Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

                        Back To The Future

                        The Planet Of The Apes (Charlton Heston)

                        Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home

                        The Time Machine (Rod Taylor, one fancy looking time machine)

                        Peggy Sue Got Married

                        12 Monkeys

                        Time After Time

                         

                        Worst:

                        The Lake House —a.k.a The Magic Mailbox or Time Machine Mailbox

                        stadjak


                        Interval Junkie --Nobby

                          Primer (2004)

                           

                           

                          That should make it clear as mud.

                           

                          Though, I have to say Primer is actually one of my favorite time travel movies.

                          2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                          BeeRunB


                            Wow, now I get it. 

                             

                            Thanks. Although, now you have to take responsibility for enticing me down yet another internet wabbit hole. This one could prove fatal to my marriage. If you kick in 10% on the lawyer bill, we'll be even.

                             

                             

                             

                             

                            That should make it clear as mud.

                             

                            Though, I have to say Primer is actually one of my favorite time travel movies.

                            stadjak


                            Interval Junkie --Nobby

                              Wow, now I get it. 

                               

                              Thanks. Although, now you have to take responsibility for enticing me down yet another internet wabbit hole. This one could prove fatal to my marriage. If you kick in 10% on the lawyer bill, we'll be even.

                               

                              As long as I can put it on my Frequent Wabbit Hole Flyer account, I'm cool with it.

                              2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                              RunJasonRun


                                I closed on a new townhouse earlier this month, and moved in two days ago, so my mind has been in a million places at once, and, although everything has gone great so far, I've been stressed out in the ways that a first-time homeowner is always stressed out, so I recently enjoyed two movies to take my mind off of the move.

                                 

                                Ant-Man (2015)

                                 

                                This latest entry into the Marvel Comics canon was better than I expected, and it was more serious than I expected.  I mean, it had comedic moments in the way that all of these Marvel movies have comedic moments, but it was not goofy like I initially expected it to be.  Paul Rudd is a solid leading man, Michael Douglas is superb in his role that has ties to the SHIELD organization, and Evangeline Lilly is terrific in a supporting part.  The special effects, as usual, did not disappoint.

                                Of course, these origin-story Marvel films always follow a similar blueprint, with a strong first hour that keeps me engaged and fascinated, and then an overly computer-generated showdown with a villain that usually has me looking at my watch.  I didn't look at my watch as often during the final 20 minutes this time.

                                I'd give Ant-Man a 3.5 on a scale of five, I guess.  More than anything, I liked how it leads up to Captain America: Civil War, which comes out next year.

                                 

                                 

                                Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

                                 

                                I shook the dust off of this movie for the first time in years and watched the Blu-ray last night while I was chilling out.  Rambo was the first R-rated movie that I ever saw in a theater, and I really wore out a dubbed VHS tape of the movie in subsequent years when I was a teenager.

                                From my adult perspective, this is really an over-the-top and silly movie in so many ways, but I'll always love it nonetheless.

                                I forgot how hot Julia Nickson is in her role as an operative who helps out Rambo in the jungle.  I also enjoy watching Steven Berkoff, who, because of his role as a Russian officer in this movie and his role as a Russian in the James Bond film, Octopussy, was the face of the Soviet Union for many kids like me who grew up in the 1980s.  
                                More than anything, though, Rambo: First Blood Part II is explosion porn for those of us who love to watch things blow up in movies.  Helicopter rockets, rocket launchers, napalm cannisters, and even explosive-tipped arrows all get plenty of action to make some glorious pyrotechnics.  I still love the scene where Rambo shoots the officer with the explosive-tipped arrow.

                                Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.