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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Discussion in 'Community' started by TheEmperorsProtege, Aug 15, 2004.

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  1. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    Sanjay’s Super Team (2015) – Sanjay Patel

    This Oscar-nominated animated short played before The Good Dinosaur. It’s . . . OK. I think the main selling point is the fact that it’s about Indian characters and the Hindu religion, not something that one typically finds in animated shorts. Or, well, let’s be frank in any kind of mainstream movie or television show. It’s well-done, of course, being from Pixar. It’s about a father and son; the father wants his son to be interested in Hinduism but the kid just wants to watch his super-hero cartoons, until he has a vision of a battle between three Hindu Gods and an evil spirit. So, now Hinduism is his new super-hero cartoon. The animation is good, particularly in the vision section of course. On the whole I’d call this one just OK; I mean, it’s predictable and would, in my opinion, be of no interest at all if not for the Hindu elements. 2 stars.

    tl;dr – Oscar nominated animated short is notable for focusing on Indian characters and the Hindu religion, but not for much else. 2 stars.

    More Movie Reviews!
     
  2. Yoda's_Roomate

    Yoda's_Roomate Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2000
    Bridge of Spies- Very good movie. Tom Hanks kills it yet again. All around great performances. I expected the story to get complicated with obscure, intricate confusing spy games, but its actually pretty straightforward.
     
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  3. CT1138

    CT1138 Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 4, 2013
    True Story.

    This was a weird one. I watched it to supplement a homework assignment for my Reporting and Writing class, and I'm glad I did. Fantastic acting on both Jonah Hill's and James Franco's part. The even creepier thing is, you watch it and think "Oh, this seems like it's fiction", but then the credits hit and they show the real people. Now that's the twist!
     
  4. Reynar_Tedros

    Reynar_Tedros Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Jul 3, 2006
    The Sunset Limited. Man do I wish I could experience the high Cormac McCarthy must feel when he lays down some of the lines he's written over the years. This one takes place entirely in the living room of one small apartment accompanied by Samuel L. Jackson, a Bible believing ex-con who saved an atheist professor played by Tommy Lee Jones from suicide via oncoming train. The entire ninety minute run time is essentially a debate between the two over their beliefs and philosophies, and while that may sound dull on paper, I was utterly captivated for every minute of it.
     
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  5. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    Jeez, everybody's watching Bridge of Spies tonight.

    Hanks's lines were from Donovan's oral argument. If anything, I thought the film's biggest weakness was that it indulges too heavily in the conventional "McCarthy era" narrative that makes people think it would have been impossible to make a due process argument over a Soviet. All the stuff about having his house shot at, for example, is made up for the movie.

    Bridge of Spies. Lovely-looking (though a bit washed-out and filtered, like somebody had instagrammed it), competently tense, heartwarmingly well-intentioned (is there anything more all-American than Tom Hanks, America's Dad, doing an Atticus Finch impersonation?), it bears all the hallmarks of Spielberg's consummate skill. However, it's too relentlessly on-message to really soar.

    Over and over it hits you with fairly bald restatements of its premise -- that it's a movie about doing the right thing and standing up for American values. It's not only not subtle in telling you what it's about, it's not subtle about showing you the message, either. It's always just a little too hamfisted for its own good, whether it's inventing shootings, having every. single. person on a train glare at Hanks, having an entire courtroom erupt into gibbering rage when Abel isn't immediately hanged, or the CIA's overt eagerness to dismiss Pryor, the film doesn't really seem to find a point it doesn't want to hammer home with a sledge. I don't think there's a single character in the film other than Hanks who even pretends to understand his side of things, and there isn't a single interaction with "the masses" in which they're not spittle-flecked, Russkie-hating morons. The only real subtlety is in the implicit contrast between the brutal treatment of Powers and the brusque but suddenly much more humane-seeming treatment of Abel.

    There's a lot to like in the cast and the direction, and the film is at its best when the seemingly out-of-his-depth Hanks is maneuvering through the prisoner-exchange negotiations with surprising competence -- there's a really great film in there that just concentrates around the art of the negotiation itself, how a man alone in a dangerous and mysterious land leverages the negotiating system to achieve a seemingly impossible outcome -- but it's held back from greatness by its lack of confidence in its ability to convey its message without going didactic. Good, but not great.
     
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  6. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Bridge of Spies is peculiar- it might have been helped by a Williams score but beyond that, a lot of the humor (and scenes in general) simply wouldn't work without Hanks, they being so Hanksian in nature.
     
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  7. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 1, 2014
    Jurassic world. I enjoyed it on the big screen and have he Blu Ray a spin last night. I enjoyed the film second time around just as much as the first. Of course it plays it safe, but it's a fun film and I think Chris Pratt is definitely the stand out performance.
     
  8. Deputy Rick Grimes

    Deputy Rick Grimes Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Are We There Yet?
     
  9. Juke Skywalker

    Juke Skywalker Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2004
    Major props to Nero, who has had a fine career in Italian film and beyond, but when you have a Ninja film and the lead character looks like he just stumbled in from the set of Behind The Green Door...

    If you haven't seen it, there's a very entertaining documentary about Cannon Films called Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films that touches on the so-called "Ninja trilogy" as well as the Cannon films of Chuck Norris.

    I saw that advertised yesterday in a banner ad over on IMDb. I believe it was a crowd funded flick. Might have to check it out.

    Connery's definitely the MVP here. It's got a lighter tone to it, but it sneaks up on you emotionally, and by the time Henry calls "Junior" Indiana, whew, who's cutting onions in here? It's also got Indy proactive in the climax, and what a rousing ending. Raiders is a perfect film in my book, but Crusade, despite a few flaws (A somewhat weak villain, a forgettable--though jaw-droppingly beautiful-- love interest, Marcus suddenly being a bit of a dolt) has a lot of heart, and it may be the most fun.
     
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  10. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

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    Dec 18, 2012
    LOLOL, yeah bless Franco and his very wild choices. He acted in everything they offered him (otherwise how can one explain crap like HitchHike - which I cannot believe has been released on blu ray before A Quiet Place in the Country.) I may eventually see that Cannon doc somewhere along the way. Thanks for the recommendation.

    Finished the dreadfully bad Hammer-Shaws co production Shatter (glad I went for the cheapo Italian dvd rather than paying stupid money for the region 1 release.) Ti Lung and Lily Li's English is very good and Ti is the star of this mess. He was forced to channel Bruce Lee - which skill set and acting-wise he did not have to do (seriously the guy was a mean practioner of Wing Chun, Giro Ryu karate, knew some Hung Gar which he does here etc.)- but this was Hammer's call. And yet, Stuart Whitman was the worse possible choice for Shatter.

    Shatter is an assassin whose latest hit is one none of his previous handlers ordered and he has to fight to survive in Hong Kong where he was supposed to get paid for the hit. The problem is, Shatter is pretty crappy at taking care of himself in a fight and that's where Ti Lung comes in, constantly saving Shatter's drunken tail. In hindsight, I think David Chiang would have been better in this film and Ti in The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires which was the other Shaws co production with Hammer (and I enjoy it on every last level.) Peter Cushing makes an imposing cameo here (the first time he said Shatter, it sounded so menacing.) So it was an interesting experiment and could have been a good movie if Ti or someone else was playing Shatter.
     
  11. Rylo Ken

    Rylo Ken Force Ghost star 7

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    Dec 19, 2015
    Last night was family pizza movie night, and we rented Spectre. So very very boring. The 12 year old had retreated into his Instagram universe within 30 min.
     
  12. Jedi Master Scorpio

    Jedi Master Scorpio Star Wars Television star 5 Staff Member Manager

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    Oct 24, 2015
  13. Drac39

    Drac39 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 9, 2002

    I'd like to see how well it would have worked if Hanks were recast with someone with a bit more intensity
     
  14. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 2, 2000
    And maybe a little more irony. Paul Giamatti perhaps?
     
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  15. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Dec 10, 2003
    Creed - magnificent film. Stallone's best performance since Rocky.
     
  16. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    Obviously you've never seen Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
     
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  17. Drac39

    Drac39 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 9, 2002
    That would have been brilliant
     
  18. PHIERY

    PHIERY Jedi Master star 2

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    Feb 7, 2009
    Deadpool
     
  19. The Krynoid Man

    The Krynoid Man Jedi Master star 3

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    Dec 24, 2015
    Batman (1989). Still the best Batman film in my opinion.
     
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  20. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

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    Nov 25, 2013
    Bridge of Spies. Tom Hanks, plays Tom Hanks - which is nice, but Mark Rylance steals every scene he's in.

    Room. Great film. For the first half hour, I thought it might be similar in premise (albeit a Murican white trash version) to a Greek film called Dogtooth, but boy was I wrong.
     
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  21. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

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    Dec 18, 2012
    Swift Sword (1980) a consolidated version of the famous Louis Cha story The Sword Stained with Royal Blood. I liked that this was to the point and I much prefer Tong Gia's choreography in this 1980 version to the Venoms mob's choreography in the 1981 version (called The Sword Stained with Royal Blood.) I love some of the Venoms insane acrobatics, but Tong Gai had a variety of choreography styles (from real world grounded to insane wuxia lunacy), Swift Sword had a good mix of both. Despite the presence of the ever annoying Wong Yue, I currently prefer this version now in spite of some better Shaw Brothers performers being in the 1981 Chang Cheh take.
     
  22. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 2, 2000
    I've been meaning to catch up with Dogtooth for a couple of years now. I know basically nothing about it other than that the guys at Filmspotting gave it their film of the year award, and they still talk bring it up every so often as a real masterpiece. And I'm starting to feel like Lanthimos is a real hole in my film experience; he's only done a handful of movies, but I've heard that Alps and The Lobster are also both amazing.
     
  23. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

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    Nov 25, 2013
  24. Drac39

    Drac39 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 9, 2002
    Dogtooth is one of the trippiest movies I've ever seen
     
  25. Rylo Ken

    Rylo Ken Force Ghost star 7

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    Dec 19, 2015
    Brooklyn. Beautiful film.
     
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