Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Revenge of the Musketeers, 1996. Sophie Marceau is adorably charming as d'Artagnan's daughter. Humor is subtle and French. Characters are very French. I like this one a lot, undoubtedly the best next generation musketeers movie.

 

Magnum Force (1973)

A worthy sequel to the franchise that didn't need sequels after the original. He throws his friggin' badge away at the end of the first one. He's disillusioned. How did he come back? Who let him back? Does this take before? Huh....wha.....Holy **** Hal Holbrook hasn't aged a day.

Everybody's Fine (2009)

The horrible Robert DeNiro impersonator Robert D.E. Niro sleepwalks through yet another movie, but that's ok because everyone sleepwalks in this except maybe not Sam Rockwell, he may be just stoned. Honestly, any movie where Drew Barrymore is not perky but instead has an expression of self-loathing the whole entire time means it's not worth seeing.

Pi (1998)

Excellent directorial debut for Aronofsky with a great soundtrack by Clint Mansel. Honestly, the garish black and white along with the shaky camera adds to the dread and impending doom.

City of God (2003)

Brutal, powerful, and in some ways, oddly jarring. I'm not sure if the satirical elements are intentional or not. I feel like it detracts from the experience along with the narrative.

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

What in the actual....seriously?

 

Interstellar
Good movie, but a bit too long in my opinion. The science was fine, and it felt feasible for a little while, but wasn't a fan of the unstoppable blight. Lovely visuals in space and bleak earth was appropriately depressing. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part I... although I did enjoy the film -for there's enough to stuff to like (Phillp Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, the underground society of District 13, how much of Katness is "produced"/sold to those in Panem, the brief glimpses of the rebellion of action, the precious bits of Donald Sutherland we got, parts of the final act)-, I found myself being frustrated with more of this film than I thought I would have been... holy hell the Katniss-Peeta relationship/dynamic was insufferable here. Made want to pull my beard hairs out. Also, the pacing/the damn buildup for the finale, which should have occurred here... this really couldn't have been one film? *** out of ****.

 

The Croods (2013) - Beautiful animation, but weak voice acting and a terrible script. This movie had fewer laughs than a snuff film. Yabba Dabba Don't. - 4/10

 

Mockingjay was easily the worst book in the trilogy. No need for it to be a two-part film.

 

I'm going to have to check that out.

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986) - Richard Chamberlain. Sharon Stone? James Earl Jones?? Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson??? Filled with laughs--some even intentional--and thrills--such as when the title card reads "The End". From Cannon Films, the house that Chuck Norris built. Strictly for those who enjoy such B-movie schlock, as I do. - 4/10 (quality) 7/10 (enjoyment)

- Martin Rabbett, who played Quatermain's brother in the film, was actually Chamberlain's partner at the time (and for many years after). I didn't know this while watching the movie, but when the two finally meet up in the third act it's pretty clear Chamberlain has more chemistry with Rebbett than Sharon Stone.

- The music is essentially cut and pasted from the score Jerry Goldsmith did for the previous film, King Solomon's Mines. It's pretty obviously so at times, but the music itself it fantastic.

- It's more than a little painful to watch a dignified actor like James Earl Jones have to slum his way through thankless roles like these.

- Speaking of JEJ, during one scene his character is being mauled by a lion, and I'm %97.8 sure that his too obvious stunt double is Patti LaBelle.

- There's actually a character billed as "Toothless Arab". Funny thing is, that's like maybe only the 10th most politically incorrect thing in this movie.

 

I don't know if I could watch that movie and take it seriously, most of my coworkers have said that the mathematicians on staff were clearly taking the piss. "This trivial graph problem took people at MIT two years to solve!"

 

This Numberphile on the subject is pretty accessible:

 

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995): 8/10. Highly underrated.

 

Tjuvarnas jul – Trollkarlens dotter (The Thieves' Christmas - the Wizard's daughter)
I really liked it

 

How so?

 

The Crown and the Dragon, 2013. Generic medieval fantasy with sorcerors, rogues, paladins, and dragons. Low budget shows in cut rate CGI, but other than that, it's a surprisingly watchable movie.

 

That's gonna have to be a must-watch for me, then. I love that movie.

UNLIKE...

The Holiday (2006).

A crap movie I was subjected to by relatives - ah, holidays - this deserves a one-line "What a piece of ****" review, but instead, allow me to present a transcript sample.

Guy: "Hey! Background background background!"
Girl: "Oh yeah? Well exposition background exposition."
Guy: "I see. Flatly delivered background background background."
Girl: "Literally stating all of my thoughts."
Director: "Time for a meta-joke because three of the characters are in film. I am so postmodern."
Eli Wallach: "I'm the only good part of this movie and I'm almost 90 goddamn years old. I don't even have billing on the front of the DVD."
Ramza: "What a piece of ****."

 

The Theory of Everything It was... better than I expected. The highlight was definitely the acting. I thought it would be an ahistorical "love conquers all" type-thing based on the advertising-- and it kinda was-- but at least it portrayed him dumping her for his nurse. I also hate how films about scientists assume the audience is at a fifth-grade level. It may be a fair assumption, but it was still ****ing ridiculous to see someone stand up in front of a classroom of professors and PhD students and explain the basics of a black hole. Gargh.

I think the film also fell into the usual trap of defining him too much by his illness. That fantasy sequence near the end where he stands up and picks up a girl's pen was awful and unnecessary. Yes, obviously some guy who can barely move due to ALS is going to fantasize about having more mobility. That's obvious. You don't need a "THAT [PHYSICAL DISABLED GUY] WANTS TO BE JUST LIKE US NORMIES" thing to show us. If you're going to assume that the audience is completely science illiterate, at least give us the benefit of a doubt when it comes to basic empathy.

 

I liked it

 

The Hunger Games!!!

....Catching Fire. It was pretty good but I can't say I'm all that crazy about the guy who plays Peeta.

 

Love Those Trains. Vintage National Geographic FTW.

 

Kill the Messenger (2014) - Michael Cuesta



In this film, Jeremy Renner plays a small-time journalist who stumbles onto a story much bigger than anything he’s ever discovered before: the wholesale trafficking in illegal drugs by the U.S. Government. It’s a true story and it’s set in 1996, but it’s important to realize that the film is set at that point in time only because that’s when it really happened; the movie desperately wants to be set in the seventies. It’s a throwback to the conspiracy thrillers of that time in tone and style and look. Anyway, I’ll show my hand here; I loved this movie. Renner is as charismatic and interesting as ever and this is one of his better performances to date, particularly as the film winds to a close. The supporting cast is just pure gold: Paz Vega as the sexy, vivacious wife of a drug lord; Tim Blake Nelson as an awkward, in-over-his-head lawyer; Michael Sheen as a frightened Washington bureaucrat; Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Renner’s harried, frustrated editor; Oliver Platt as Winstead’s pragmatic boss; Andy Garcia as an aging drug lord; and, last but certainly not least, Ray Liotta as . . . well, no spoilers from me.

Anyway, this film has the nasty cynicism (and I mean nasty in the best possible way) of a seventies thriller and this isn’t a movie about crusading journalists finding the truth in a victory for American freedom. It’s a movie about the track to destruction you find yourself on when you buck a government that wants its secrets kept, not revealed. As such, it’s incredibly timely. The treatment of Gary Webb in this film is right along the same lines as the treatment people like Julian Assange & Glenn Greenwald have faced in recent years (and continue to face). As the film progresses, it becomes more and more infuriating. By the end of the film, I was seething with helpless rage and absolute disgust. It’s a movie that emotionally affected me quite profoundly and deeply. And, yes, like all those movies about real stories, this one ends with on-screen text explaining what happened to the people involved in this story. Stick around for that; it’s the vicious sucker-punch that finally puts you out for the count. In short, this is a superlative crime-thriller, a superlative personal drama and a superlative protest film. Highly recommended. 4 stars.

tl;dr – cynical, bleak throwback to the seventies conspiracy thrillers engages on all levels; a great ensemble and a dark, merciless script create an infuriating and disturbing look at government malfeasance. 4 stars.

More Movie Reviews!

 

Rogue1-and-a-half: I saw Kill the Messengers as well. It was well done.

 

That movie Kill the Bike Messenger with Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't nearly as good.

HEYO!