Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

A fantastic ending to a great, great series,

 

Skyfall.

Typical Bond film. Heavy on one-liners and clichés. The scenes and set pieces pile up without any suspense or drama. The climax, a sort of Home Alone on fire, dutifully plays out in front of you without drawing any special attention to itself. And then it's over. The very last scenes are amusing if you've ever seen a James Bond movie before.

I have an intense dislike of chuckling, above-it-all villains--enlightened thinkers among mortals--who are supposed to be highly intelligent yet never act like they are. In this film, the villain's make-up consists of several playful stings, a few teasing comments, and some creepy looks--but he's never as lethally sharp as he's said to be. He reminded me of The Joker in the old 1966 Batman series, a clown relishing his own wickedness. A clown with a bomb.

 

'Oz, the Great and Powerful'. I really want a vintage Raimi movie and I am kind of still waiting for it but this comes awfully damn close. It's loud and very amazing to look at but I think on the character level and performances the film suffers. I think the film should have gone darker in terms of making the Wizard a sleaze bag. James Franco is just too much an innocent pretty boy for this role. I think a lot of the problems I had with the film would have been solved had they gone with their original choice Robert Downey Jr.

 

Dumb and Dumberer

Hilarious movie,

 

Premium Rush

It was a fast-paced fun movie to watch about bike messengers outsmarting a dirty NYPD officer.

 

Incendies. I was liking it a lot until I figured out what was going to happen at the end.

Spoiler

I mean, the coincidences are too much. First, her son just happened to become a psychopath who was sent to the prison where she was held and tortured her, and he just happened to flee to Quebec (though I suppose French-speaking Lebanese wouldn't have a lot of places to choose from if they wanted to know the local language)? I know it's not really supposed to be realistic, but it seems borderline silly. I don't know what to think now.

 

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone... completely predictable, but still very entertaining due to some niiiiiiiiiiiiice work done by Carrell, Buscemi, Arkin & Carrey. Despite it being rated PG-13, there was enough naughtiness to be had.

 

Men in Black 3

Good movie

 

I rented The Amazing Spider-Man from Red Box.

I liked the villain and prefer Gwen Stacy to Mary Jane. I think the film could have skipped the origin story. We saw nearly the same sequences in Raimi's first of three films not too long ago and nearly everyone on the planet knows it by now. This reboot could have jumped into the action instead of presenting 30-45 minutes of redundant exposition. If the narrative requires flashbacks of Uncle Ben or Mr and Mrs Parker then so be it.

 

Rented Wreck-It Ralph. I dunno if it was the flu making me miserable but I found it rather meh, videogame nostalgia aspects not withstanding. It also didn't help that the disc I got seemed to be dirty or damaged and the movie was stopping every once in awhile at the worst possible moment.

 

Dredd: An awesome and slick action thriller that is loads better than the Stallone version. Urban owns the role and gives the character an unbelievable amount of menace making him seem more threatening than the villains. Olivia Thirlby was a very well cast competent action heroine that didn't come off as the damsel in distress. The only thing I didn't like was the underwhelming main villain. She just doesn't do much.

One of these days I'm going to do a double feature with this movie and The Raid: Redemption.

 

I enjoyed it, too. It was like a mash-up of RoboCop and The Raid: Redemption (The latter of which I actually didn't care for). Miles above the Stallone version, though I still contend (Back-handed compliment alert!) that one isn't quite as bad as its reputation. Plus, it's got a great main title by Alan Silvestri.

And speaking of Alan Silvestri...

The Avengers - This was my third time watching it (Saw it in theaters opening day, watched it on DVD when it first hit) and I keep waiting for some of the cracks to show. Only they don't. I know this movie has gotten so much praise that it's in danger of becoming overrated, but for my money it's a direct hier to the original Star Wars. A trend breaking, trend setting breath of fresh air. - 10/10

 

Religulous: It's basically Bill Mauer making fun of organized religions for 100 or so minutes, but I really enjoyed it. He brings up some really good points, and it's pretty damn funny too.

 

The Master

Beautiful film, great performances, but I really couldn't tell you what it all means in the end. Maybe the film has no meaning. It has everything a film need to be a great film, but I don't think it's something I'd watch again. Nor does it have that many stand out moments like say THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

In any case it's another great entry into PTA's catalogue.

 

I tried watching Project X (the found footage movie about a massive party), but I stopped after the first few minutes because I couldn't stand the main characters acting like feminine hygiene products and calling everything they didn't like "gay".

 

Argo... certainly an excellent motion picture, with a hell of a directing job done by Affleck. However, though Goodman & Arkin nearly steal the movie, the acting wasn't spectacular . The drama as it played it out in the final act was one of the more intense bits I've recently seen in a movie, even though I knew how it was all going to end. *** 1/2 out 4.

 

Forrest Gump

Great movie, Tom Hanks was great as well.

 

A Liar's Autobiography

Very cool animation in some sequences, and as a Python fan from birth I gotta say I was less than impressed overall. Maybe I need to watch it again.

 

I definitely felt the same way. PTA's films often don't have that thematic unity that I really think audiences want in them.There Will Be Blood' comes closest and that is why I think it is his best film. They all props a bunch of brilliant ideas and questions but they don't ever search for answers. He's a brilliant filmmaker but I think he teeters on both ends of the spectrum. 'There Will Be Blood' is in my opinion one of the best films I've ever seen and 'Magnolia' is one of the worst. '

 

The Day After Tomorrow

Good movie

 

Green Lantern (2011) - I wanted to give this one a few years before giving it a 2nd chance because, as they say, distance lends perspective, and I've had my opinion about a movie significantly changed once it was removed from the hype and expectations of opening weekend. Unfortunately that wasn't the case here. I can't tell if the script is just bad or if the movie was chopped up in the editing suite, or both. Toss in wonky f/x, bland casting (Mark Strong aside. He's fantastic as the underused Sinestro) and a weak score, and this is barely passable as even the most mindless of popcorn fare. - 6/10

 

Daddy Day Care

A fun, funny movie.

 

Saw several films recently.

'13 Assassins', an absolutely brilliant action film from Takashi Miike.Miike also made the brilliant 'Audition' which shows he is a master of building tension. What he did for horror there he does for the action genre here. The film takes the time to develop dynamic heroes and villains and explores the psychology and religiousness of being a samurai. There is an hour of story before any fighting starts that makes the action all the more meaningful and compelling. And the action is beautifully choreographed and always thrilling. I can tell who is fighting who as constant cuts are not made. This is leaps and bounds better than any action film made in America the last five years.

'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey', I was greatly disappointed by the film in theaters but not so much on home video. I still think it is Jackson's weakest film but I noticed it's strengths more this time. Martin Freeman is inspired as Bilbo and delivers all the charm of the picture. I think Jackson had a four star 'Hobbit' movie here but he strays away from Tolkien too much in his love for action and the story of the warrior becoming a king. Let's face it Thorin Oakenshield is merely a tinier version of Aragorn.