Amph What was the last movie you saw?

The Fly (1986) - (re-watch) One of the best re-makes of all-time. Certainly my favorite. Genre prejudice is the only explanation I have as to why Goldblum didn't get an Oscar nomination (some great performances that year, but none better than Goldblum here IMO). - 9/10

 

X-Men: First Class

It was pretty good as an origin story. Love the Wolverine cameo.

 

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

More like Paraboring Inactivity. I was really irritated how tedious this one was compared to the relentlessness of three and slow build-up of dread of 2. I think they forgot to make things happen in this movie to steal a quote from MST3K.

Hellraiser (1987)

One of the most inventive and twisted horror films I've seen. Doug Bradley is great in his basically extended cameo as the malevolent Pinhead, and the make-up work is horrifying and fantastic.

Jackass: The Movie (2002)

Oh I'm a terrible person for admitting that I nearly cried from laughing so hard. It's basically a study of stupidity, but it's so damn hilarious at the same time.

 

The Producers (2005)

As an accounting major, this is a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. I loved it and want to see the Mel Brooks one now.

 

Jurassic Park (1993) - (re-watch) I know some people—a lot of people—who mention this in the same breath as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. And while I don't agree with that at all, it's a darn good movie. Having recently re-watched Jurassic Park III (Or is it Jurassic Park ///?) I have a new found respect for just how many of the things, large and small, the original does well, and so much better than its sequels. If the original Jurassic Park is filet mignon, then Jurassic Park III is a microwaved hot dog. - 8/10

 

Thor (re-watch in preparation for The Dark World this weekend) - It would have been so incredibly easy for this movie to go so incredibly wrong when you think about it. Even compared to his fellow superheroes, Thor kind of sticks out as particularly ridiculous. However, Kenneth Brannagh's character-focused direction and fantastic performances from all and sundry make Thor a great ride from start to finish. I'm actually starting to think it could be the best MCU film behind Avengers, mostly thanks to Loki's surprisingly sympathetic descent into villainy. 9/10

 

Absolutely. By all rights Thor shouldn't have worked half as well as it did. I give a lot of credit for this to Brannagh as well, not to mention Hemsworth and Portman. The former manages to be strong without sacrificing sensitivity, and the latter vulnerable without being weak. And I thought their romance, so deftly handled by all involved, was one of the real keys to making it rise above. And it goes without saying that Hiddleston's Loki is one of the more interesting movie villains of the last decade. I don't rate it quite as high as you do (I give it a 7, maybe 7.5), but it's a darn solid entry IMO.

Centurion (2010) - Ultimately it's only slightly better than recent films of this genre like The Eagle,The Last Legion and Iron Clad, but the potential for it to be much more was there. Sadly that potential kept slipping through its grasp time and time again. Fassbender is excellent, as always, and he carries much of the movie on his shoulders. The film itself looks great (especially considering its modest $12 million dollar budget), apart from the ridiculously stylized CGI gore. With a little more thought it could've been something other than slightly above average genre fare. - 6.5/10

 

That was actually meant to be an 8/10. Edit timer wore off before I noticed my mistake.

 

star trek into darkness. it was so cheesy.

 

Amour (2012)

****ing depressing. That's all I can really say about it. It had good performances, but man was it brutal to watch, especially the last 30 or so minutes.

Vacancy (2007)

An effective little thriller with two solid performances even though it borrows heavily from other thrillers. I loved the opening credits.

 

Carrie (2013). Saw the original and loved it, read the book, saw the television movie and was worried about this remake, but after seeing the promos and Julianne Moore as Mama White, I just had to see this film. I'm shocked to say that I really enjoyed it. 'Twas much closer to the book than the original but the ending incorporates elements of both. For a more elaborate review, check out my site at http://www.g-pop.net/carrie2013.htm

 

Keeping up with my Hellraiser anthology tour....I just finished Hellraiser V: Inferno.

WHAT THE HELL?! That wasn't a Hellraiser movie!
It was an LSD-fueled cross between Max Payne and Groundhog Day with a cameo appearance by Doug Bradley in *a* (not THE) Pinhead costume.

It also features a cameo appearance by Doug Bradley....dressed as a cowboy for some reason and speaking with a midwestern US accent. This part is never explained or mentioned again..

There was no discernible plot to this movie...while it starts off with a tortured cop named "Not Mark Wahlberg" looking for a kidnapped child and a serial killer, but after ten minutes that is as forgotten as Cowboy Doug Bradley while the filmmakers decide its more fun to waste the viewer's time with surreal mental breakdown crap that comes off as little more than pretentiousness for pretentiousness' sake.

Nor was there any attempt to bridge it to the other Hellraiser movies. As terrible as Bloodline was....it at least had something to work with. This piece of trash could very well be a worse movie than Alien vs. Predator Requiem. It's like the makers of this are trying to be the Next Stanley Kubrick.

Very, VERY few movies have the ability to leave me genuinely pissed off. This is one of them.

Next up is Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker. God help me.

 

The closer I get to 40, the less tolerance I seem to have for all of this young adult stuff, so I was surprised that Hunger Games (which I broke down and watched after incessant pressure from co-workers) wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. I know that sounds like faint praise, but you have to understand just how awful I thought it all looked. I give a lot of credit for this to Jennifer Lawrence. Yeah, she's a hottie, but I also think she's a really good actress, and she helps to ground the more outlandish elements of Hunger Games and keep it compelling.

My blogging partner, Noel did a piece on the Hellraiser franchise for Hopelies.com a couple of years ago. He similarly immersed him self in that world for a week. I think you might enjoy his article once you finish with your own tour through Hell(raiser) .

 

I'll definitely check it out. Thanks

 

Absolutely . And don't worry, unlike me, Noel can actually write .

 

If you didn't like 'Inferno' than I'd probably suggest to just stop there. The rest of the series are horror spec scripts the Weinstein company owned and didn't know what to do with. The solution was to rewrite them to vaguely match Clive Barkeresque horror and hire Doug Bradley for a day or two of shooting loose Pinhead wrap arounds.

 

the last movie i saw was uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives (second viewing overall). it is better than all the terrence malick movies rolled into one.

excuse me: terrace malick.

 

I recently picked up this movie just because of the Chris Ware poster. Haven't watched it yet.

 

please watch it. i may be biased slightly because i lived in thailand, but probably only a little bit.

 

will do

 

I think it's a whole lot better than Spielberg's mess 'The Lost World'. It had less loft ambitions but it works if you view it as a kind of hybrid 50's B Movie made in the 21st century

 

Actually...there was improvement with Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker. (aka: A Hellraiser at Owl Creek Bridge. nudge, nudge, wink wink.)

I watched it last night. It's practically the exact same plot as 'Inferno'...only with much better writing, characters that I could sympathize with, and an actual link to the first two movies....it was good to see Ashley Laurence back as Kirsty Cotton for this go-round, even if the plot revolves around her disappearance and alleged murder. Also, it was nice to see the return of the merchant/drifter character from the first movie (this time played by Doug Bradley in bum makeup).

It's not a perfect movie...but it's okay. Among my dislikes:
- Hated the music. Hated it. Christopher Young's Hellraiser suite is one of my favorite things about the first two movies. It's dark and moody while also sweeping and mysterious. It's perfect haunted house music. (I'd also argue that the music is what helped elevate them from being just regular 1980s b-movie into an icon of horror. Had they gone with the original Coil theme, I don't think the movies would have become quite so popular. Tidbit: George Lucas originally planned to follow in 2001's steps by using stock classical music for Star Wars. Just imagine how terrible that would have been)
I realize that direct-to-video releases are done on a shoestring budget....but god did they have to go with cheap porno music?

- At a run time of about 88 minutes....there were parts missing. Even with the big reveal at the end, there were still gaps in the story.
How did Trevor find out about the box? The police think he killed Kirsty because of a substantial inheritance from her dead father and uncle....WHAT inheritance? The Cotton family wasn't shown to have that kind of cash....hell Frank was living as a squatter.

Oh well. Hellraiser VII: Deader is on deck.