Movies You've Seen Recently Thread

[Elerond]

Suicide Squad was watchable movie, I would rank it fresh instead of rotten.

 

I liked how Margot Robbie portrayed Harley Quinn, even though movie didn't do best job in explaining her character. But Robbie's performance is stellar

 

Will Smith did good job as Deadshot even though I found character to be bit boring.

 

Action sequences relied too heavily people standing still and shooting CGI monsters to them to be exciting.

 

But overall tone of movie is funny, which is improvement to super seriousness of BvS.

 

Sadly other members of Suicide Squad are left quite unfleshed. 

 

Villain is sadly again generic, they would have made movie much more interesting if Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), person who assembles the squad , had been the villain of the story.

[Gromnir]

Not so much, Star Wars for me is less science and more fantasy. 2001: A Space Odyssey is what I think of when I hear 'science fiction movies'. And Alien. 

alien is a horror film that is light on science, but we get your meaning... sorta. we has always maintained that the genre labels o' scifi and fantasy were conjured up by pulp magazine editors in the early/mid 20th century and that the basis for such a distinction were commercial.  john carter were scifi 'cause were set on mars and 'cause there were aliens and ray guns n' stuff.  tolkien's work were fantasy 'cause it had wizards and dragons.  labels give fans a general notion o' content between covers o' the book or 'zine. tolkien would claim that he were creating myth and not fantasy.  edgar rice burroughs woulda' rolled eyes at folks quibbling over the inanity o' labeling when the real question worthy o' debate would be why he got paid so little to inspire so many.  all fiction is the result o' the author attempting to give shape to the "fictive dream."  the labels is having commercial value, but we not see much point in trying to distinguish the genres.  

 

“i have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. when this occurs, i pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”- ray bradbury

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited August 3, 2016 by Gromnir

[Amentep]

"Science fiction is what we point to when we say it." — Damon Knight.

[Oerwinde]

Let's see, dropping comic and video game movies...

 

The Martian and Interstellar were interesting

 

I liked the Edge of Tomorrow

 

Jurassic World was fun if stupid. Probably say the same about Godzilla and Transformers but those may be more stupid than fun

 

Jupiter Ascending was pretty bad as was the Divergent series and Lucy

 

I haven't seen these so I can't say

Ex Machina

Mad Max

Terminator 

Tomorrowland

Chappie

 

Probably a lot more I'm forgetting

 

Ex Machina - Slow, but interesting, with a pretty decent ending.

Mad Max - 2 hour car chase, and thats not a bad thing.

Terminator - Didn't see

Tomorrowland - Surprisingly decent.

Chappie -Its basically Robocop mixed with Short Circuit 2. Chappie was a fantastic and endearing character, surrounded by terrible people trying to influence him. Definitely worth a watch.

[ManifestedISO]

This story will end well.

 

[Raithe]

Saw Man Up, which manages to straddle the line of being a chick flick but not.  Lake Bell playing a mid-30's single woman getting tired of all the blind dates her friends are setting her up on, on the way to her parents 40th wedding anniversary and she runs into Simon Pegg's 40 year old divorcee who mistakes her for his blind date. Rather than explain his mistake, she decides to go along with it and the shenanigans ensue.  Drinks, philosophy, walking around London, lost divorce papers, encounters with old stalker classmates, competitive sports, and setting people on fire.

[Gromnir]

This story will end well.

 

*image*

am hoping brie ain't a method actor.  alcoholism.  coma. a weird pregnancy with a time-lord which we only vague recall and do not wanna look up the details. etc.  am knowing that all comic characters that endure for decades is gonna evolve, but the writers has been all over the map with carol danvers.  goes from classic damsel in distress existing only to be saved by mar-vel to, even w/o her powers, a test pilot extraordinaire who also happens to be a secret agent who makes james bond seem positive inept by comparison. am thinking sometimes the comic writers try too hard to make it painful obvious that their female heroine is a strong woman, and end up with a character that is... cartoonish.  'course once you write yourself over-the-top powerful character, you gotta give her a weakness to humanize her, and so we get the marvelous alcoholism that comes and goes depending on the writer's whims. 

 

am not near the comic fan that some folks 'round these parts is, so perhaps we is missing something 'bout ms. marvel/captain marvel.  marvel universe's power girl pinup? am actual hopeful that brie doesn't do too much r&d.  am thinking that this is one o' those opportunities where a movie iteration has a chance to much improve the print version o' a character. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Volourn]

Suicide Squad - Not perfect but a damn good entertaining movie. Will Smith and Margot Robbie KILL IT. They won't get credit for it but they deserve Oscar nominations for this. Even the secondary characters like Diablo, Flag, and Waller (amongst others) were fantastic. However, one scene with Waller ultimately ruined the character for me. She went from being bad ass to piece of garbage really quick. I even enjoyed the Enchantress and all the aspects of that  part. The action and the comedy was great. However, one aspect that annoyed me was Jared Leto as the Joker. He failed.  BY FAR the worst version of Joker ever. It was way too tryhard  - you can see the  desperate acting fumes coming out of him. The 'love story' between Joker and Harley was laughable from his side. Totally unbelievable.  Overall, a great movie but not without flaws. 8.5/10

 

 

The professional reviewers show, yet again, theya re pieces of crap. They somehow love GB which absolutely sucks but hate this film? Iidiots.

 

Also, LMAO, this movie has made more money than GB in 1 week than an entire month overall. In US they almost got there with 135mil to GB's total  gross of 146MIL. HAHA.

 

And, audiences, BY AND LARGE, really liked the movie too.

 

Most importantly, I did. That is all that matters.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Volourn

[Hurlshort]

Huh, I thought Ghostbusters had pretty lukewarm reviews.  I'd hardly call it love.  Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 73%.

 

The original GB is at 97%.

 

Alternatively, Captain America Civil War has a 90%.  Maybe reviewers just hate DC comics?

[Volourn]

73% is pretty good number. Certainly not 'lukewarm'. Way better than the 25%ish of SS or BvS - both of which are VASTLY superior movies. And, don't get me started on the trash that Marvel puts out (though they are way better than GB).

[Maedhros]

I kept thinking how good Guardians of the Galaxy was while watching Suicide Squad.

[Blarghagh]

73% is pretty good number. Certainly not 'lukewarm'. Way better than the 25%ish of SS or BvS - both of which are VASTLY superior movies. And, don't get me started on the trash that Marvel puts out (though they are way better than GB).

Not really. Ghostbusters is pretty bad, it should be about a 25%. But SS shouldn't be more than 40% so vastly superior is an overstatement and BvS is a bottom barrel 1%er. Even the people who go "it was bad... but at least Batman was pretty good" are full of it.

[Volourn]

BvS is friggin' awesome. PERIOD.

[ManifestedISO]

 

am actual hopeful that brie doesn't do too much r&d.  am thinking that this is one o' those opportunities where a movie iteration has a chance to much improve the print version o' a character. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

I just read a gaggle of modern Carol ... she is squeaky-clean. The print issue Brie Larson holds is #1 from the 2014 series ... kids, cats, demon kittens, AI that speaks cat, warp bears. The 2016 series is an improvement, with a short-haired Carol and heroic discipline befitting a captain, but at this rate I'm also hopeful Brie can make a unique take on the character. 

[Blarghagh]

I can't think of anything awesome in it. It's the movie that tries to make a jar of pee dramatic for no reason, has the most annoying villain ever who somehow just knows stuff for no reason, dumps a boring cavetroll in it for no reason, gives exposition through awkward dream sequences for no reason, has heroes fight for no reason and then become best buddies for no reason, then team up with someone else who is in the movie for no reason, and does not one, but two "let's pretend superman's dead even though he's obviously not" moments for no reason. My favourite moment is when the Flash shows up to convince Batman he's right about Superman when Batman has obviously been nothing but sure he's right about Superman, so even in the movie he's literally there for no reason. Oh wait, no, my favourite moment is when Superman's like "you don't understand, we need to talk" and Batman gets all up in his face and yells "I understand!" and then Superman just ****ing sucker punches Batman for no reason! Or maybe it's Martha Kent's speech to Superman about how "you need to be the best he can be... or not, see if I care" a scene that literally says nothing and is in this already extremely long movie for no reason. Nothing in BvS makes sense, nothing has a reason to be happening this way except because the studio wants it to happen.

 

I don't get why there are apologists and contrarians for this movie. It has no redeeming qualities, it doesn't have a single good moment in it. I went in with low expectations and somehow it was still worse than I thought it would be. And it's not like I set out to hate it, I was excited for a new Batman and believed people who said that at least Ben Affleck as Batman was good (he wasn't, I imagined yakety sax playing in my head during his ridiculous fight scenes) I don't know much about DC comics so it's not like I was expecting or cared about making a loyal adaptation and while Zack Snyder is mediocre he's never quite hit this low. I didn't want this to be bad, but it is. It's so bad that I can't imagine anyone actually enjoying it. Usually I feel like if someone likes a bad movie, fine, I like some bad movies. But it is so unimaginably bad that I can't see anyone saying they like it and actually be telling the truth. It's not even "so bad it's good" bad like Piranha 2 or something, or just "very disappointing" due to expectations like the Matrix sequels. No, it's aggressively terrible. It feels like it's going out of its way to be the worst movie it can be. I haven't hated the experience of watching a movie as much since Battlefield Earth. It made me feel physically uncomfortable. Please, someone explain to me why exactly some people liked this movie, because I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

 

Suicide Squad on the other hand was just meh. Joker was pretty cool but there wasn't enough of him to really make an impression, Harley and Deadshot were great. Not sure why the final act took up two thirds of the movie and at a certain point the action stops being interesting enough to carry the movie, but I didn't actively hate it. And Ghostbusters had a couple of funny jokes but no real plot or villain to speak of, bad CG blob ghosts that all look the same (the original had huge variety in its ghostly creatures) and way too many jokes that weren't funny. Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth can stay, everyone else who was in it really needs to get out of Ghostbusters because they're just too boring. Both were significantly better than BvS.

 

There, that was my wall of text about how bad Batman vs Superman is.

Edited August 7, 2016 by TrueNeutral

[Volourn]

 BvS = AWESOME.

 

There, your spam text is destroyed EPICALLY.

[Blarghagh]

Glad you explained to me in such detail why people liked it. Never change, Volo. I don't actually believe you when you say you liked it, though. No offense meant, but I'm pretty sure you're lying through your teeth and no amount of text is going to convince me you actually like this movie. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to thoroughly enjoy it. I think you're saying you liked it because you like being contrarian. Maybe I would have bought "it's not THAT bad" (I mean, it's not Manos: Hands of Fate, it's closer to a Uwe Boll movie) but AWESOME? I have a pretty good imagination and I can't imagine anyone thinking BvS = Awesome.

 

To be fair though, I'm fine if you keep saying that. I won't get tired of responding to it saying how bad this movie is, I feel like it's a public service to warn people away. It's like how I try to stop people from watching Dragonball: Evolution - for their protection (and to be fair, that movie was better). And I feel like you responding to it is helping me do that.

Edited August 7, 2016 by TrueNeutral

[ManifestedISO]

Ouch ... no redeeming qualities ... Diana Prince on screen redeems more sins than Jesus Christ and he's not even real.

[Oerwinde]

Jeremy Irons is the best Alfred. He has the sophistication of Michael Gough, and the Father-figure-ness of Michael Caine, but then also has some grit so you can totally believe he was SAS at some point.

[Blarghagh]

Alfred's got like one scene and two voice lines, though. He's barely a cameo.

 

Ouch ... no redeeming qualities ... Diana Prince on screen redeems more sins than Jesus Christ and he's not even real.

 

It would but she's there for no reason, does nothing except run around one battle sequence and add nothing to it. The one thing she could have done was go like "hey Clark, you know I have Super Strength right? I could totally stab that guy with that Kryptonite spear so you don't have to do your ridiculous Jesus metaphor" but I guess the screenwriters forgot she was in the movie again. Every appearance she has screams "oh yeah, almost forgot the studio wanted us to copy the Marvel thing with her".

Edited August 8, 2016 by TrueNeutral

[Amentep]

SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)
 [spoilers ahead]
 
Overall I thought it was a good, entertaining film.  Its not perfect (and I think I see what may have turned critics off) but I think the characters are more true to their comic counterparts than any of the DC films that have come before it.  And ultimately it ends up being a fun film; I do suspect there might be a better film lurking inside it, though.
 
The film has several narrative threads woven together; primarily we see the stories of Deadshot and Harley Quinn as a through story.  However I don't think that the film started out with this being the case, I think that originally Enchantress and El Diablo had to have an equal amount of story time.  From a story perspective this gives two characters who have family (Deadshot, Diablo) and two who have relationships (Enchantress-Rick Flagg, Harley Quinn-Joker) to compare and contrast through their story-arcs.  The edit as is focuses the story heavily on Deadshot and Harley, but at the expense of a transition between the first third and the second third.  This comes off clumsily and confusing and I imagine is the point that critics are getting thrown out of the story narrative.  I've read that none of the Enchantress stuff was supposed to be flashbacks, and I think that is what was supposed to be part of the transition.  Also for a "Dirty Dozen" style film, we get little footage (also possible in the middle) that would have shown the 'team' meeting one another.  If I'm right this lessens the impact of Enchantress' turn, but as is the film does okay without it.
 
But once we kick into the second third, the film kicks into high gear and rolls along just fine; while I think Joker and Enchantress get short shrift from the edit, there is enough there to "get" their characters.  The rest of the Squad don't have a lot of time spent on them, but there's enough there to get the basics of their characters.  That said, whoever thought it was a good idea to re-edit Killer Croc's backstory with footage from later in the film - you were wrong, it was a bad idea.  The goals are clear - if simple; free an asset, not defeat the bad guys.  But as with every other "Dirty Dozen" style film, the mission goes pear-shaped and they have to figure out what - if anything - they can do.  
 
As to Amanda Waller's controversial moment towards the end I've seen some complaints over - that was classic Amanda Waller.  She's not a good guy; one of the re-occuring themes of the book is that Waller - the nominal good guy protecting the nation/world is quite willing to do the most horrible things ever as the "ends justifies the means" and she will do whatever it takes to keep a secret a secret, to protect those who need protecting or whatever goal she's focused on.  She's the ultimate embodiment of the needs of the many outweigh the few - and she's totally willing to sacrifice the few to protect the many even if it means outright killing them.  Its a dark moment (although I feel the film may have kept more dark moments on the editing room floor) but its a dark moment that's true of the character.
 
All in all, I enjoyed the film a lot and I hope we get a director's cut version for home media.  And I may have to go see it again in the theaters.

 

It would but she's there for no reason, does nothing except run around one battle sequence and add nothing to it. The one thing she could have done was go like "hey Clark, you know I have Super Strength right? I could totally stab that guy with that Kryptonite spear so you don't have to do your ridiculous Jesus metaphor" but I guess the screenwriters forgot she was in the movie again. Every appearance she has screams "oh yeah, almost forgot the studio wanted us to copy the Marvel thing with her".

 

So in your version of BvS with Wonder Woman spearing Doomsday - who is the one holding Doomsday still with WW's Golden Lasso?  It can't be Clark, he'd be weakened by Batman's kryptonite weapons that were weakening Doomsday and also by the Spear itself as it got close to Doomsday and thus Superman would be unable to hold him still long enough for him to be speared.  So that leaves you with ... Batman and Lois?

 

There's a lot to complain over with respect to Wonder Woman's role in the film, but in the final fight, as presented, she's really the only one who can hold Doomsday long enough for Superman to get a clear shot with the spear.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Amentep

[Blarghagh]

Not really, we've seen her land a bunch of shots on the bastard.

[Amentep]

Sure, she's a fighter, but could she have stabbed him with the spear in the right place, hard enough to kill him without anyone holding him?  I'm not sold on that point.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Amentep

[Blarghagh]

But Superman who was already practically dying from even holding that spear did a fine job with whatever strength he had left?

[Raithe]

On the flip side of things:  I saw X-Men Apocalypse.

 

That was fairly entertaining and hung together mostly well. It did have a few disappointing aspects though, notably I think it relied on fan knowledge rather than being a stand alone film. They really skimped on background on so many of the characters, for so much about Olivia Munn as Psylocke and the new Storm etc, they barely had any lines or backstory to them. You'd have expected there to be a bit of depth to the characters being turned into the Four Horsemen, but I guess the focus was on Magneto for that.

 

The slip in of "and third films in series always suck" was a fun moment.