Movies you've seen recently

[Hiro Protagonist]

Wolf of Wall Street. Great movie. Really showed the excesses of the 80s and 90s. And Leo's performance was Oscar worthy.

 

47 Ronin. I had very low expectations going into this because they changed scenes and re-shot the movie. Surprisingly, both my partner and I liked it. Wouldn't mind seeing the original cut to see how much had been changed.

[Oerwinde]

Wolf of Wall Street. Great movie. Really showed the excesses of the 80s and 90s. And Leo's performance was Oscar worthy.

 

47 Ronin. I had very low expectations going into this because they changed scenes and re-shot the movie. Surprisingly, both my partner and I liked it. Wouldn't mind seeing the original cut to see how much had been changed.

From what I understand, the reshoots were to add a bunch more Keanu Reeves, because originally he wasn't a major character.

[Calax]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

 

Of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I'd rank it second only to the first Iron Man in terms of coherence, plot and character and second only to The Avengers in terms of adrenaline and spectacle. It's been a while since one of these films felt like more than a "here's something while you wait for the movie you actually want to see" and works in it's own right.

Can I just call it the "NSA is Bad Mmmm'k" Movie?

 

I realize SHIELD is always going to have that sinister edge to it, but the level they take it to between this and Avengers is just ridiculous.

[Blarghagh]

You can call it whatever you wish, really, but I'd say it's a pretty large leap from "a secret evil illuminati like Nazi force corrupting an intelligence agency into creating huge machines that will kill millions of dissidents" to the NSA, but it's a comic film and current events inform it but do not equate to it and saying otherwise is ridiculous. Somehow I can't imagine you being quite as critical when The Dark Knight made Batman into a one-man Patriot Act even though that movie was a soapbox lecture and this had parallels to the NSA, Snowden and Drone combat as a way to give us facets to identify with for entertainment's sake, not as a means to change our minds about anything.

 

But if that's how you wish to see it, that's up to you. Some people will find any reason to hate something. Boohoo, left wing Hollywood. Personally, I'm more interested in the name-drop of Dr. Strange and wondering if they'll cast Liam Neeson or Nathan Fillion.

Edited April 8, 2014 by TrueNeutral

[Calax]

I was more aiming at the point that Nick Fury (an ostensibly "good" guy) is saying that he's perfectly ok with the idea of punishment before the crime and that it's perfectly ok to domestically spy on EVERYONE in the name of safety. To me it pushed things a bit to far even if I thoroughly enjoyed the entire rest of the show.

[Blarghagh]

I see - I may have jumped the gun there a bit, sorry. I've seen a bit too many people bashing it for political reasons and it irks me. I apologize.

[Oerwinde]

But if that's how you wish to see it, that's up to you. Some people will find any reason to hate something. Boohoo, left wing Hollywood. Personally, I'm more interested in the name-drop of Dr. Strange and wondering if they'll cast Liam Neeson or Nathan Fillion.

Adrian Brody is my choice

[Blarghagh]

Also a great choice. All I hope is that they don't follow internet rumors and go with Benedict Cumberbatch. That would be awful. I dig the guy's work but I just don't think that's a good fit - I don't know why everyone else thinks it is.

[Oerwinde]

When io9 had their big "Chiewetal Eijofar(sp?) should play Dr Strange because we're so progressive!" article one comment mentioned the original Steve Ditko art often drawing Strange with asian features, so an asian might be ok in the part, I immediately started trying to picture Daniel Dae Kim with a goatee.

[Monte Carlo]

Hollywood has always despised, but fetish-ised, those who protect it. For example, in A Few Good Men the really radical thing would have been to make Col. Jessup the good guy, and Tom Cruise the snivelling libtard creep not fit to lick his boots. Jessup gets the best lines, so I suppose it's evens.

 

Apparently, The Winter Soldier harkens back to the golden age of 70's conspiracy theory movies, when handsome actors with big hair and a soft spot for the USSR made a big deal about Richard Nixon bugging one room. As a meme I've seen recently says, Obama bugged the world and nobody gave a ****.

 

I've just watched World War Z 'The Extended Cut.'

 

As a fan of the novel, I'm not going to bother trying to compare the two. I just hope Max Brookes got a fat cheque and can sleep at night. But the lack of internal consistency in the plotting spoils what might have been a perfectly enjoyable piece of disaster-movie hokum (and World War z is a disaster movie, not a horror movie). For example, why is Brad Pitt's character the man the UN need so badly they send a helo to rescue him? As far as he's presented, he's a hostile environment war-crimes investigator.

 

Huh?

 

I fail to see how that qualifies him to solve the puzzle behind the zombie apocalypse. It's just lazy. There are any number of specialisms they could have notionally given him to have made him 'The Man.'

 

Then we have the silly ending in a top secret World Health Organisation bio-weapons lab in Wales. By the way, Wales is a place where the only visible zombies are in the top secret WHO lab, not the streets of Cardiff which are as quiet as the grave.

 

Pro-tip - did anyone else notice that Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor Who is in this movie... as a Doctor at the WHO? This is where they film Doctor Who too....

 

Da-da-da!!!

Edited April 8, 2014 by Monte Carlo

[Calax]

Hollywood has always despised, but fetish-ised, those who protect it. For example, in A Few Good Men the really radical thing would have been to make Col. Jessup the good guy, and Tom Cruise the snivelling libtard creep not fit to lick his boots. Jessup gets the best lines, so I suppose it's evens.

 

Apparently, The Winter Soldier harkens back to the golden age of 70's conspiracy theory movies, when handsome actors with big hair and a soft spot for the USSR made a big deal about Richard Nixon bugging one room. As a meme I've seen recently says, Obama bugged the world and nobody gave a ****.

True, but then these stories haven't ever really gone out of style. In fact they've been making a resurgence recently and it's just getting tiring. Add on top of that the rather hefty pile of political nonsense that they're tossing at you about domestic spying, internet foot prints and that this character from WW2 (supposedly the "greatest generation") basically saying that what they're doing is un-american, and it feels a bit to much like they're looking at the audience going "EH!? YOU GET IT RIGHT!? EH EH EH!?"

[Monte Carlo]

Subtlety has never been mainstream Hollywood's strong point I suppose.

 

As for 'The Greatest Generation' I implore you to watch the special features section on the DVD of 'Generation Kill.' The real active duty marine sergeant portrayed in it is interviewed and gives his take on what would have happened had 24 hour news been embedded with US forces on D-Day. It really is electrifying.

 

On the nights of 4th - 5th - 6th of June 1944 the Greatest Generation took the decision to bomb the French coastline and railway infrastructure knowing full well they'd kill thousands of French civilians. Which they duly did. It was a hard-nosed piece of military thinking - 'X' amount of friendly civilians die so we can take Omaha Beach and move inland.

 

That's friendly civilians, sport fans.

 

My generation uses smart technology and drones to minimize civilian casualties. It uses lawyer and legal advisors in the field. It retrospectively excoriates people who used non-lethal interrogation techniques on those who would do us harm.

 

Neither generation is or was 'great' each simply made decisions based on the political and ethical mores of the day.

 

Seriously, watch that piece about being 'at the tip of the spear.'

[Orogun01]

 

Wolf of Wall Street. Great movie. Really showed the excesses of the 80s and 90s. And Leo's performance was Oscar worthy.

 

47 Ronin. I had very low expectations going into this because they changed scenes and re-shot the movie. Surprisingly, both my partner and I liked it. Wouldn't mind seeing the original cut to see how much had been changed.

From what I understand, the reshoots were to add a bunch more Keanu Reeves, because originally he wasn't a major character.

 

So basically the movie is a reshoot?

[Bryy]

I just got into a discussion about God's Not Dead with a pastor's daughter.

 

Why.

[Blarghagh]

 

Hollywood has always despised, but fetish-ised, those who protect it. For example, in A Few Good Men the really radical thing would have been to make Col. Jessup the good guy, and Tom Cruise the snivelling libtard creep not fit to lick his boots. Jessup gets the best lines, so I suppose it's evens.

 

Apparently, The Winter Soldier harkens back to the golden age of 70's conspiracy theory movies, when handsome actors with big hair and a soft spot for the USSR made a big deal about Richard Nixon bugging one room. As a meme I've seen recently says, Obama bugged the world and nobody gave a ****.

True, but then these stories haven't ever really gone out of style. In fact they've been making a resurgence recently and it's just getting tiring. Add on top of that the rather hefty pile of political nonsense that they're tossing at you about domestic spying, internet foot prints and that this character from WW2 (supposedly the "greatest generation") basically saying that what they're doing is un-american, and it feels a bit to much like they're looking at the audience going "EH!? YOU GET IT RIGHT!? EH EH EH!?"

 

 

But they also point out that the "greatest generation" did some nasty ****. I didn't see the flick as picking sides in this discussion at all, rather raising questions.

[Amentep]

And then Hydra shows up twirling its collective mustache and the dilemma thing is irrelevant.

[Rosbjerg]

John Dies at the End.. A movie made for and by stoners, although I gathered the book was actually quite clever. Funny in some places, but mostly just made me go "ehh?"

[TheChris92]

La vie d'Adéle

 

I've heard plenty of praise and controversy thrown at this movie while browsing local film forums and websites, I regularly roam, and thus felt compelled to check it out after discovering it on Netflix. I'm starting to have a thing for unique romantic dramas, and international films alike, or at least ones that approach the genre with a twist. In this case being the main focus of a lesbian relationship, which there aren't that many of to my knowledge at least. But the overarching plot isn't as much about that as it is about young love & self-realization, which I imagine anyone can strongly relate.

The film starts out, in a Dardenne Brothers sort of fashion, handheld as "follow one character up close" spirit. Our main character Adele is fifteen years old, and she happens to fancy girls more than guys. The film progress with a steady pace. We're with Adele when she talks with her ​​friends, and we are with her ​​when she spends time with her boyfriend, a guy. He's not exactly what she's looking for and thus she decides to dumb him -- One thing leads to another as she figures her fascinations leans more towards girls, when fantasizing about a punky blue-haired art student (Lea Seydoux as Emma) glimpsed on the street. After Plucking up the courage to visit a lesbian bar in town, Adele meets Emma and the pair begin a passionate, sensual affair. 

 

In the beginning, the lesbian relationship develops itself into a theme, but it disappears quickly out of the movie, which then shifts its focus to Adele's maturation - from her first love to the painful fracturing truth of relationships and beyond. It leaps ahead a few years after the beginning of the affair. We now find Adele working as a primary school teacher and living with Emma, who's still seeking success in the art world. However, various tensions are bubbling under the surface of their relationship, eventually leading to a devastating break-up. 

Intriguingly, the script refuses to submit to clichés one might expect – This is what made me appreciate the film more. It was its honesty towards the harsher reality of relationships. There are no compromises here, there's no coming-out scene and no dramatic family conflict (though there is both an uncomfortable playground confrontation sequence and an awkward first kiss with a female schoolfriend). This lack of clichéd distractions allows the film to focus on the raw honesty of the central relationship itself, in ways that I believe will resonate deeply with anyone who's ever been in love. It manages to adhere to all audiences and doesn't make a big deal out of its subject matter. Adele's situation can easily be related to anybody regardless of one's sexual orientation. A brand slice-of-life chaotic loose roller-coaster. A commendable act on the maker's part for certain.

 

The sex scenes which are present in the movie are the source of controversy, as they are blunt and uncompromising. But there is a sense of warmth and real intimacy, in no small part due to how authentic the two actresses make them feel, as if they were having a go at it for real. The film Integrates the sex scenes - all long and very explicit - into the plot and the description of the characters -- to a realistic degree I'd argue. Explicit sex in cinema always arouses suspicion, whether the director has speculated on the sensational. One would simply have to look at the marketing of Lars Von Trier's Nymphomanic. In La vie d'Adéle, they serve as an integral part of the story, and the film would not have been the same without them. 

 

Moving on to something else I wanna talk about and point out  -- First of all, anything mentioned above obviously wouldn't have turned out as great as it did weren't it for the acting. Adele Exarchopoulos delivers an extraordinary performance that is utterly mesmerising to watch, her every thought and emotion clearly visible on her achingly expressive face. She carries a wide range of expressions on her illustrious face, as the beautiful cinematography captures her every move. The chemistry with Lea Seydoux and the intensity of their passion is powerfully conveyed within the film's lengthy, visceral sex scenes (the exhausting central sequence is around six minutes long), which, as established earlier, are never exploitative. The direction assures a thrilling and satisfying character study -- Lastly, the script samples together a tough ride filled with the agony and ecstasy of first love, as well as the devastating pain of heartbreak and the film remains utterly gripping throughout its entire three hour running time. 

Edited April 9, 2014 by TheChris92

[Blarghagh]

John Dies at the End.. A movie made for and by stoners, although I gathered the book was actually quite clever. Funny in some places, but mostly just made me go "ehh?"

 

The thing about John Dies at the End is that the movie takes roughly the first quarter of the book, does a fairly loyal adaptation of it too, and then it skips straight to the end by using a bunch of shortcuts that make no sense.

 

Not saying the book gives clear cut answers on everything, it's still extremely weird and I think some of it's strength lies in keeping it unexplained, but a lot more of the puzzle pieces fall into place and begin to make sense.

 

I do recommend reading the book, its a bit too meta and clever for its own good but its the only book that had me laughing out loud and experiencing lovecraftian existential dread in the space of a single page.

Edited April 10, 2014 by TrueNeutral

[Tale]

The Quiet Earth

 

Mostly loved it. Mostly. Science fiction about a guy who finds himself the last person on the earth. Maybe.

[Valsuelm]

The Quiet Earth

 

Mostly loved it. Mostly. Science fiction about a guy who finds himself the last person on the earth. Maybe.

 

Watched that last year. Enjoyed it.

[Walsingham]

 

La vie d'Adéle

 

 

I couldn't find it on Netflix. How does it compare with When Night is Falling?

 

[Monte Carlo]

Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. A British (Hammer) horror movie from 1974.

 

Man, what can I say?

 

A middle European village in the early 1800s is stalked by a vampire that sucks the youth from beautiful maidens, turning them into dying, hideous old crones. This didn't overly bother the special effects department, as they simply swapped out the nubile actress for an old woman with some bad make-up.

 

Voila!

 

 

 

Anyhow, the dashing Captain Kronos (a blonde, Katana-armed fop in jodphurs) is enlisted to help. He arrives in the village with his hunch-back sidekick (really), Professor Hieronymous Grost. En route Kronos rescues a ravishing gypsy girl from the stocks "for dancing on a Sunday). This is the lovely Caroline Munro...

 

 

 

I won't spoil the rest, suffice it to say it involves drinking fine wines and brandies, smoking cheroots, slaying ruffians in taverns and burying toads in small boxes. A mystery is solved, baddies are slain and camp aristocrats are unveiled as the sinister necromantic blackguards we always knew they were!

 

A thoroughly entertaining, so-bad-it's-good slice of schlock, pulpy nonsense.

 

Go Kronos Go!

 

[TheChris92]

 

 

La vie d'Adéle

 

 

I couldn't find it on Netflix. How does it compare with When Night is Falling?

 

 

Haven't seen that one actually so I'll let you know as soon as I do. Will add it on my 'to-watch' list -- I take your post as a recommendation on your part

I've gained access to the American Netflix where I found the film listed.

Edited April 11, 2014 by TheChris92

[Orogun01]

I recently remember that I really liked The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, upon rewatch I saw a lot of household names that hadn't made it back then. It was kind of odd.