Amph What was the last movie you saw?

But if you stick close to the novel, you eliminate the possibility of a string of increasingly unnecessary sequels .

I'm sure a First Blood remake will happen soon. Surprised it hasn't already (maybe because a 5th Rambo movie starring Stallone is still a possibility). But the chances of doing one that keeps the 70s setting/Vietnam vet aspect of the novel are probably zero.

 

That's if Sly actually makes it. He's gone back and forth on whether he would make it several times now, with Rambo taking on everything from Mexican drug cartels to ISIS to a monster (seriously). As of now it seems like it's on, but we'll see. I'm hoping for some closure for the character. If not, the end of the last Rambo works just fine for me.

 

Watched Christmas Vacation( A Christmas family tradition). The last movie I saw in Theaters was Spectre.

 

Mockingjay part 2. It was decent, but mainly felt like it was going through the motions. That's why I dislike film companies breaking up novels into two part films. Just give me one long final film instead of two disjointed ones.

 

Two recently.

'Muppet Christmas Carol', the story has been done to death but I actually think this may be my personal favorite adaptation. Michael Caine is the perfect Scoorge and that the story has Muppets does not negatively hinder it from making the emotional impact it has to. This 'Christmas Carol' is as effective as any other.

'Birdman', I went ga-ga over this one and I still hold it in the highest regard. That Michael Keaton lost the Oscar will go down as one of the biggest snubs.

 

Ed Wood. - Yes, we should all take biopics with a grain of salt, as they tend to play loose and easy with the facts (Wood was never quite the sunny-dispositioned "grinning idiot" that Depp portrays, nor was Bela Lugosi the dour and cantankerous foul mouth played by Landau) .....but this one is so much FUN.

 

Across the Universe [2007] - one of my girlfriend's favorites that I had never seen before yesterday and never plan to watch ever again. If you're not familiar, it attempts to tell a story using mostly Beatles songs so it's sort of a musical but not really. I'm not a huge fan of the Beatles, especially their stuff during Vietnam which is the primary setting of this film. I also don't like hippies/the hippie movement, so that was a strike against it as well. The acting was ok, but in the end, I just didn't really care about the characters.

 

Terminator Salvation and First Knight

 

Haha. 10 points for the unnecessary sequels. I know it won't happen, just like a close to the novel version of Logan's Run--- stops typing before I waffle on about that one. Again.

Judgement of An Assassin (1977) Take this as deja vu or not. I got sucked in because I was testing dvd software and had such a good time. Again. David Chiang, Chan Wai Man and Ku Feng are terrific (esp. Chan and Chiang) - with some nice support from Wang Lai (-who plays Ku's on and off lover and the woman who invites the "root of all troubles" back into the martial arts world.) The more I watch this movie the more I see it's not just about the law and corruption, but the ongoing head butting between young people and their elders. David Chiang's hippie Hei Mo Le is hilariously adorable as he thumbs his nose at everyone older than him except his Sifu. There's a moment between Hei and Old Hedgehog (Ku Feng) that is both LOL funny and a real mark of the youth vs. elder stuff going on with the counterculture. Both actors play it to the hilt, just when you want to smack Hei for being that rebellious whippersnapper he concedes defeat and diffuses what would have been a much bigger scuffle. Unfortunately for Hei, his curiosity with older people nearly gets him killed when he attempts to test the big bad Bloody Devil. The second fight between HML and BD two is one of my most favorite in the dozens of martial arts movies I've seen because you see them reacting as their ages dictate.) Not going to lie, Chan Wai Man's tombstone crushing kick is one my most favorite WTH moves he's performed in these wuxias. So much fun and his creepy Hammer horror via ancient China lair is awesome.

 

Some of the hard core horror fans have such hate and resentment for it not being 100% historically accurate as if Ken Burns were to make it. I think it's excellent as a Hollywood fairy tale.

 

Stagecoach-Classic entertaining western. Holds up extremely well. A

Left Behind(Cage style)-Wow. I mean wow. I mean. F

 

Victor Frankenstein

 

Please to describe.

 

It was okay. The movie was from Igor's (Daniel Radcliffe) perspective and showed Frankenstein's increasing obsession with his creation. Charles Dance had one scene as Frankenstein's father, and C (or Moriarty) was the main antagonist as the religiously driven inspector with Freddie Fox as a secondary antagonist who wanted to exploit Frankenstein's work.

 

Sounds meh. I can't help but notice you've said nothing about the Monster, which leads me to think it's not very impressive.

I'm a fan of the Shelley novel and the classic Universal films (which are drastically different from the novel but have a kind of old Hollywood charm), but these modern retellings (including the woeful Branagh production) have very little to offer a guy like me. I'll probably wait for Vudu on this one.

 

The monster was only in it at the end, and not for very long.

 

That tears it, then. A Frankenstein movie with a brief third-act cameo by the Monster? I'm glad you told me, because I would have left the theater seething if I had gone and paid for that!

 

To be fair, it was mostly about the relationship between Igor and Victor Frankenstein, and I think the trailers made it out to be like that.

 

Yeah, I gathered that from the trailers and press material, but I held out hope that the Monster would play a larger role than hinted. I don't see much point in holding the creature back, since he's at the core of the story, and is ultimately what audiences want to see. As evidenced by the poor box office here.

 

Dark Star: That HR Giger Doc. Pretty good.

Big loss when he died, however going by the way he looked I'm pretty sure he was already dead his body just didn't know it yet.

 

The Rich Are Always With Us (1932) – Alfred E. Green

This film is essentially the story of a love triangle between Ruth Chatterton, George Brent and Bette Davis, all socialites of a fashion. The thing that kind of differentiates this love triangle is that they all like each other, even the competing Chatterton and Davis. They’re all quite good in the film. Chatterton was an icon at the time, but I hadn’t seen her in anything and I was surprised to find that she has an interesting comic touch that got a couple of big laughs out of me. Adrienne Dore is particularly good as the mistress of Chatterton’s husband; she starts off as a kind of joke character, the ditzy blonde, but by the end, her character’s gone super dark and her final scene is actually really disturbing. Bette Davis is really good; she has great chemistry with Brent. There’s a scene where she visits him in his apartment that really just crackles with energy and fun. I think, above all, I’d go with that as a good descriptor for this movie. It certainly has dramatic elements, but it’s just a real pleasure to watch and a lot of the comic moments really land. The relationship between Chatterton and Brent may end up grating on some people, it’s so incredibly “on-again/off-again” but I liked it. Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie. It’s not trying to change the world and some parts are silly, but it’s an enjoyable diversion. 3 ½ stars.

tl;dr – love triangle among likable socialites anchor this well-performed, surprisingly funny movie; light, fluffy and very entertaining. 3 ½ stars.

More Movie Reviews!

 

The Gift (2015) -- Written and directed by (and co-starring) Joel Edgerton, whose standing as an artist in my personal rating system just went through the roof. Here's a nuanced and unpredictable thriller that doesn't insult the audience by spelling out plot points like some Hollywood trope-machine, but allows the viewer to draw conclusions about characters and events based on casual dialogue and unobtrusive camera moves. The characters feel real, the consequences of the story maintain a convincing integrity through to the end. Jason Bateman plays a terrific detestable jerk; Rebecca Hall is luminously sympathetic and lovely to behold, if a bit frustratingly inactive (at first). Tone and performances are never hokey or ham-fisted, but there is real intensity in some sequences, real heart-pounding, palm-sweatening psycho-thriller beats. I like this movie a hell of a lot for the sheer aplomb of the scripting, performances and overall cinema. Quite an achievement for Mr. Edgerton, who as young Owen Lars I would never have suspected possessed such keen talent.

Now, on a weirdly personal note, I share an eerily similar back story with Edgerton's fictional character Gordon Mosely. We both

Spoiler

were bullied and beaten up in high school for being gay, based on a lie another student told about a supposed gay event he witnessed that never actually happened. Pretty specific, right? I'm not gay and neither is the fictional Gordon, but both of us suffered this same slanderous lie that led to much harassment, haranguement, occasional fisticuffs and general all-purpose misery through high school. Now, to be clear, unlike Gordon I was never beaten half to death by some homophobic father; far from it in fact, as my dad was a peace-loving hippie. Nor did we have to leave the town as a result of the bullying. I eventually stood up for myself, and got it to stop of my own bravado and steely resolve. So my life wasn't ruined by it. But it did affect me rather profoundly and made me the person I am today.

Just like Edgerton's Gordo. Neat, huh?

 

The Poseidon Adventure. I am predisposed to like any film with "Adventure" right there in the title, but unfortunately this disaster flick isn't particularly adventurous. After an incredibly clunky opening that introduces us to the (frequently grating) characters, it finally gets in gear when disaster hits and the liner capsizes. The bickering band of survivors making their way through an upside-down ship in search of safety is better, but lacks much in the way of urgency. There's a lot more standing around arguing than there is survival action, and neither the arguments nor the action are particularly compelling. There are a few nice moments, like the long underwater corridor sequence, but generally it just involves walking or crawling through yet another passageway while water laps behind them (you can always rely on the water to show up at the exact moment they decide to proceed up a level). The character dynamics are cliched. Borgnine is wasted as a one-dimensional, shouty jerk. The only part of the film that really grabbed me was Gene Hackman, who steals the show as an angry, abrasive reverend who makes himself leader of the survivors. Hackman's performance is fantastic, and combined with some solid writing, he finds the core of this character as a once-idealistic renegade whose anti-authority spirit is warping into egotism and self-righteousness. Though he starts the disaster with personal warmth and concern for his fellow passengers as his natural energy drives him toward organizing an escape, the constant bickering with the ship's purser and Borgnine's contrarian detective turns him more and more domineering. Introduced deploring the idea of telling the weak to pray to God rather than act out themselves, it becomes clear just how much deeper his contempt runs when he exits railing against God for supposedly not helping them escape -- it's clear the prideful Hackman takes all the credit for himself. However it was intended, it makes for a fascinating character, and Hackman nails it. It's just too bad there's nothing else in the movie worth seeing.