Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Tenebrae (1982) Thriller writer Peter Neal travels to Rome to promote the title book (a best seller) which inspires an unstable fan to start killing people the fan deems undesirable. Then this fan is murdered, but the murders keep happening. What's up with that? Brilliant giallo from Dario Argento (my favorite film of his thanks to is a linear story, characterization a plenty and lots of beautiful elements to study (buildings, colors or lack thereof, people etc). The film has a very mean-spirited undercurrent that feels like it came from Dario's personal experiences with an unstable fan which inspired the core of this story.

This was the first time I'd watched Synapse's films restoration all the way through and it's stunning. Goblin (okay they don't call themselves that here, but it is them) provides the funky, disco-electronica score which sounds great and puts this in line with Suspiria for using music as a major aspect of mood. In my three favorite films about the fine line between creativity and madness, I think this one is best. One thing that was a bummer about the HD restoration, you see how drug-addled or mature certain actors are. That said, given how great this restoration was, I cannot wait to see what Synapse does with Suspiria.

 

I was watching Superman II last night , it holds up really well , it's fun , it's dramatic , romantic , good pace and packs an awful lot into 2 hours , if only Zack Snyder could do these things .

 

I saw this movie and it occured to me afterward that this movie actually kind of explains Batman.

 

The Accountant is so hilariously stupid and inept. Rogue1-and-a-half, I'm surprised you liked the J.K. Simmons exposition bit. I hated it. Literally grinds the movie to a halt while Simmons sits on a couch and explains who Affleck is, even though there have been flashbacks explaining this very thing throughout the movie.

The Lego Batman Movie (2016)

Not anywhere near as good as The Lego Movie, but I still enjoyed it immensely. The first quarter is vibrant and zips along with manic glee, and then it kind of drags towards the middle before recapturing that energy in the final act, which I'm glad was not spoiled in any way in the trailers. Inner geek me was content.

 

Did you like the reveal about the woman on the phone? That was the moment when I literally face-palmed. Dumbest twist ever.

 

Accountant getting a lot of thread real estate for a movie so "hilariously stupid." Though it's worth repeating the movie is hilariously stupid.

 

Hacksaw Ridge. Excellent war drama. Mel Gibson and Andrew Garfield richly deserve their Oscar nominations.

 

John Wick: Chapter 2

 

So I've got a list of movies I've been meaning to watch but I'm not sure which one to watch now. Which one do you guys think I should watch? (I wasn't sure if there was any place to post a thing like this and I do need help getting some kind of an answer). https://letterboxd.com/stephenmurphy96/list/unwatched-pile-dvd-blu-ray/

 

Oh god that was so bloody stupid. The movie really crashed and burned after the 189 minute long exposition sequence.

Fist Fight (2016)

I actually kinda liked this. Charlie Day is great at being unhinged, and it's nice to see Cube foul mouthed and mean again. It's been much too long. Jillian Bell is the real scene stealer here. She's going places.

The Great Wall (2016)

It's beautifully shot, and I really only saw this because I'm a huge fan of Yimou and he has a great eye for cinematography and symmetry (see Curse of the Golden Flower, the Kubrickiest martial arts film ever made) so he didn't let me down there. Matt Damon's accent is distractingly awful. I have no idea what he was trying to do, but good lord was he hilariously miscast in this.

 

Contagion. So researchable. I'd like to see Contagion 2 with a pandemic twice as deadly and a cure that never comes.

 

doing more oscar cramming....

i watched la la land. it was just like the old musicals you love, except with iphones and priuses and zero memorable songs! blech.

also watched jackie. natalie's performance was fascinating. the film itself was pretty thin, but i was still captivated every time she was on screen.

and i watched loving. it was alright, i thought it suffered a little from moving too quickly through an extended time period, but strong performances from both leads.

 

Robocop (1987): A classic and highly entertaining action film that also boasts interesting and still relevant satire and great performances both from lead Peter Weller and the supporting players of Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith, Ronny Cox and the late Miguel Ferrer as well as many more. Also has a great score by Basil Poledouris.

 

The Great Wall (IMAX 3d)

Not that bad. I mean what do you expect? The Chinese actors act like every other actor in a wushu movie. However I don't mind since I don't watch alot of these type of films. The monster/aliens/mutants/what ever the heck they are were clearly cgi but clever oponents & an unique design. However Matt Damon is playing MD "again". Special effects were decent.

7 out of 10.

 

Robocop 2: Not as great as it's predecessor. While it has a decent climax and some clever ideas as well as impressive effects it get's bogged down by it's lack of focus on our title character and his partner (Performances still work though nobody is half assing it for sure) and also after while gets bogged down in the commentary which does sort of become obvious as to what it's supposed to be after awhile.

 

The Sword in the Stone. Classic Disney.

 

Now read the book. And the sequels, which are even better.

 

Watched The Heroes (1980) while discussing it with a friend who was viewing it for the first time. She enjoyed it.

 

Get Out.

Suprisingly great and definitely non cliche horror Movie.

 

Ghost... is this film a bit hokey? Yes. Do some of the characters get annoying with things they take too long to figure out (Sam figuring out what he can & can't do as a ghost, Molly in trusting the information Oda Mae Brown is giving her)? Sure, but everything else about this film takes care of those flaws: Whoopi Goldberg's superb performance as Oda Mae Brown, her constant back & forth with Swayze's Sam Wheat, and Carl Burner as 'the ultimate *******' subplot works (among other things).





Also, for my own nonsense, this scene was particularly interesting:



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*** 1/2 out of ****.

 

Really great episode of No Small Parts about Vincent Schiavelli here:

 

Finding Dory. It was fine. Not nearly as fun as Finding Nemo.

 

Bad Asses. A 2014 comedy action movie starring Danny Trejo and Danny Glover as two old but still tough guys who take on a drug gang in LA Not bad.

 

Arrival. And it was amazing.