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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? (Ver. 2)

Discussion in 'Community' started by Violent Violet Menace, Nov 17, 2017.

  1. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    It got surprisingly good reviews. I'll watch it eventually. I haven't watched a movie since December.
     
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  2. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Yeah it was actually pretty good..I think had this been a time with people in theatres it would have been a surprise hit.
     
  3. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

    I liked it better than The Hurt Locker, but that's not saying much. It was slow, ugly, and depressing. "Based on a true story." Loosely based, very. They could have made the characters interesting and compelling since they were fictionalized, but they didn't bother, and they also didn't bother to get the details right, or even believable. Historical dramatizations can work, but this one took a middle road between fiction and history, and managed to get the cons of both and the pros of neither. And shaky cam, I hate that, it makes my eyes tired; I assume they thought it would make it seem more like real found footage, which it obviously wasn't.

    Let's get into the torture scenes. What I learned in SERE school is that torture is a lousy way to get information. The victim will say anything to make the torture stop; instead of telling the truth they'll usually just say whatever they think the interrogator wants to hear. The movie made it seem like the info they got with torture was all reliable and factual. And I don't recall any onscreen debate, implied or otherwise, about the (im)morality of torture.

    The CIA agents didn't have a clue about security. They sat in public restaurants and openly discussed highly sensitive cases, and made trans-Atlantic cell phone calls to share classified information. That kind of carelessness gets people killed IRL. Loose lips still sink ships. Also, many of their interactions were highly unprofessional. Yelling and cursing at each other during high-level staff meetings should get people reassigned, demoted, or possibly fired from the agency altogether. And when that behavior comes from the person conducting the meeting, that's some pitiful leadership skills. RL military is much more professional, and I have a hard time believing CIA is that much worse.

    The military angle was smaller than I expected. They made it seem like the SEALs just jumped in the choppers, traded a few jokes, and jumped out at the compound; maybe there was a proper detailed planning session and the required mission briefing off-screen, but it didn't seem that way. Tactics weren't good at all. These highly trained and combat-experienced soldiers spent way too much time milling around in wide-open spaces when available cover was just a couple of steps away.

    The Night Vision Goggles filming was off. Wrong shade of green, and faces shouldn't have shown up as clearly as they did. I guess allowances were made to capture the actors' performances.

    The movie ends with Jessica Chastain getting on a C-130. It was definitely a real Herkypig, either an E or H model, the ones I spent 20 years on. It had red and white stripes on the propeller blade tips, which I've only ever seen on Canadian 130's, never American. Anyway, she walks up the cargo ramp by herself. We'd never allow anyone, especially a civilian, to walk up to a plane and get on alone and unescorted, that's one of the jobs of the loadmaster. One guy comes back from the flight deck wearing a green flight suit (wrong, we always wore desert khaki flight suits in Afghanistan). He tells her she has the whole plane to herself and can sit anywhere. No safety briefing or emergency procedures as required by regulation. She sits in the back. Well, OK, but it's customary for the crew to invite VIP passengers to sit up front in the flight deck; it's warmer, more comfortable, much more interesting, and way better view. Most of the crews I flew with were also likely to invite attractive young ladies up front, so it's doubly unlikely that they wouldn't offer her a seat up front. Anyway, she sits in the back and he asks her where she wants to go. WRONG! The crew never goes out to the plane without already knowing where we're going, planning the route, studying the weather along the way, checking we have enough fuel for the flight plan, and getting an Intel brief about the latest and most likely hostile threats at departure, en route, destination, and possible alternate landing sites. But she doesn't even answer his question, and he just wanders back to the flight deck, leaving her alone. Wrong again. We don't leave passengers, especially civilians, alone in the back of the plane. No competent loadmaster would do that, and in combat zones we always flew with two loadmasters. (In the credits, the guy in the flight suit was listed as C-130 pilot. Maybe the loadmasters both had the runs and were doing their business in the airfield's flightline port-a-potty? :rolleyes:)

    So the movie ends with her sitting alone in the back of the Herk crying, and me sitting alone staring at the screen thinking, "That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works."
     
  4. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    You might want to check out The Report, which not only is devoted to investigating the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the CIA after 9/11, but directly takes a jab at Zero Dark Thirty. It's similar in style to All The President's Men, with a bunch of interviews, bulletin boards covered with pictures and news clippings, and uncomfortable questions fielded to politicians. In contrast to ZDT, though it does directly depict the EITs, it greatly emphasizes just how terrible they were, not to mention ineffective.
     
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  5. Charmbracelet

    Charmbracelet Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 24, 2020
    You're Next (2013)

    It was enjoyable and silly, so, my kind of movie, really. There's a twist that I called at the beginning--- I'm proud of myself for that as I'm usually awful at predicting twists--- but even before the twist occurs, these characters are operating on Alien: Covenant levels (minus one character in particular) of stupid. They are leaving people alone in rooms, running out of safe spots, etc. The one character who isn't an idiot comes across as hyper-competent because she is surrounded by a legion of less-than intelligent folks. Sure, it's a pseudo-slasher flick, and the folks within are fearful, but people were making some dumb decisions that seemed counter-productive to survival. The 'twist' explains away some of these decisions, though if I--- a terrible predictor of twists--- am able to see a twist, then it is not a very good one. It makes the film a little less forgettable, yes, but it doesn't elevate it to great or even good.
     
  6. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Dragonheart: A New Beginning (1999)
    Remember how the first one ended with the very last dragon of all time dying, putting an end to the species forever and ever? Yeah, that lasted until somebody wanted to make a sequel and decided there was just one more, which would be the actual very last dragon ever. Well, except that there also has to be another dragon for the very last dragon to fight. So anyway, the original was not exactly a revolutionary masterpiece of cinematic art, and this sequel was obviously made on a much smaller budget, with much worse writing and much less talented talent. And the dragon CGI which was pretty impressive in the original from '96 got scaled way, way back in the sequel. The artists who drew the original Pete's Dragon made a more life-like creature than this one.
     
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  7. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    The Sea Wolves. Based on a true story that was only declassified shortly before the film was made, this is a lightweight but entirely fun World War II action-adventure film. It follows, and somewhat fictionalizes, a real operation in which SOE officers in India ascertained that German spies were broadcasting Allied shipping details to U-boats from German freighters stuck in harbor in the Portuguese enclave of Goa. In order to violate Portuguese neutrality, they put together a team of old-duffer reservists and used a rickety barge for the raid. It’s a neat story, and it makes for an unremarkable but thoroughly entertaining film, featuring the aging likes of Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Patrick Macnee, and Trevor Howard getting in a last hurrah. Good solid old-school fun.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2021
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  8. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    Planet of the Apes 1968
    The original classic. Charlton Heston is a real jerk the first part of this movie, but the irony is he's an astronaut who hates people and thinks there's something better out there only to discover there is much, much worse. Bizarre yet amazing Jerry Goldsmith score and perhaps the greatest twist ending in movie history.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2021
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  9. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Pee Wee's Big Adventure

    I really enjoy Elfman's score in this; it's both original and very creative in conjuring past pieces. In both his orchestration and melodic choices, I hear echoes of musical themes from films as diverse as Psycho, James Bond, the Wizard of Oz, Toho, classic westerns, orchestral scores, and classic cartoons.

    This is a good biker flick lol. Pee Wee is trying to find his bike that was stolen by Francis and that's about it. It's a road picture that takes him from his home to the Alamo to WB studios in Burbank.

    He encounters a lot of unique characters along the way including Madame Ruby, Mickey, Large Marge, Simone, Andy, Hobo Jack and many others.

    This is a great example of early Tim Burton where you can really see him creating many of the classic stylistic traits he would later become well known for.

    The dream sequences in particular are pretty creative and coupled with the Elfman's ominous music make for fun and suspense.

    Phil Hartman was one of the writers on this and he has a cameo near the end which is cool. Jan Hooks also has a cameo in Texas.

    It's a very episodic and creative picture with many funny gags and one liners like when Pee Wee does this awkward flip off of his bike while trying to show off.
    "I meant to do that."

    The end chase filmed at and all around WB studios is quite funny as Pee Wee crashes several film sets in production including a beach movie, a Christmas movie, a Godzilla picture, and a Twisted Sister video shoot.

    Pretty funny stuff.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2021
  10. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    that movie is hilarious
     
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  11. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    It was fun to rewatch it again.
    I definitely laughed out loud quite a few times.

    "Large Marge sent me."

    *music plays ominously*

    And when he's singing old folk songs on the train with Hobo Jack and finally can't take it anymore.

    Jack singing- "Jimmy crack corn and I DON'T CAAARE!!!"

    Pee Wee screams and leaps from the moving train. [face_laugh]
     
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  12. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017)

    Very engaging documentary about the composer, pianist, and synthesizer player (and occasional actor) Ryuichi Sakamoto. Much of it focuses on the last few years, on his struggles with throat cancer while also working on the score for the film The Revenant as well as on his most recent album Async. But we also get some glimpses back into the past including YMO (late 70s/early 80s synth-pop band he was in), as well as archive footage of him working on other film scores including Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky, and The Last Emperor. All in all, Sakamoto comes across as a sympathetic, smart, and thoughtful man who's very mindful of ambiance in music, but I suppose we already knew that.

    Unfortunately, Sakamoto just posted on Facebook a coiuple of weeks ago that he has a new cancer diagnosis.
     
  13. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Psycho. Purely as a film, this has its clunky bits, and it takes forever for it to actually get to the stuff that anyone remembers it for. But Hitchcock isn’t really creating a film — he’s creating an experience. Misdirection, shocks, it’s all designed to send the audience on a rollercoaster of thrills and chills. Hitchcock, the master of suspense, takes out every tool in his toolbox and goes to town for a horrifying thriller that basically invented the slasher genre. You really have to admire how intricately crafted it is to shock and shake the audience while still retaining the subtle touches that keep it respected as a film. A classic that deserves the attention.
     
  14. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2015
    Personally, I think it's the start that I remember the best.
    Janet Leigh and her decision to steal from her boss and run. Her guilt and fear. Terrifically done.
     
  15. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    It's great, though I prefer the light-hearted The Raven (1968).
     
  16. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    Many years ago, I remember my brother Bruce once left his son Ronnie with us for an afternoon. And Ronnie started crying. Really, really crying. My Mom & Dad and I had no idea of how to make him stop. But, my brother Pat had the solution. He put on his videotape of this movie, and Ronnie was absolutely entranced.
    My nephew Ronnie is in his thirties now, and he's pretty weird. I wonder why...
     
  17. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    Malcom & Marie (2020)
    Indie movie about a film director and his girlfriend having a relationship meltdown after the premiere of his latest movie.

    It's a two-hander shot in black and white and taking place entirely in one house, but it kept me interested. John David Washington and Zendaya shine here, I think their future is looking very bright.
     
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  18. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Godzilla 1984 The Return of Godzilla

    My first viewing of this one and I quite enjoyed it. Especially once Gojira showed up. His eyes look interesting in this one; he looks enraged and kinda drugged up lol.

    There is a lot of discussion and exposition amongst the authorities and scientists at the beginning, but it really picked up once Gojira arrived.
    The early 80s fx were fun to see, like the shots of the missles orbiting the Earth and the city models for example. And it was interesting to see the dynamics between the US, Russian, and Japanese military/officials.

    I believe this was the first new Godzilla film after a 10 year hiatus that brought the Showa era to a close.
     
  19. Rogue1-and-a-half

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

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    Perfect Stranger (2007) – James Foley

    A very famous man once said that sincerity is everything. Once you learn to fake that, the rest is easy.

    In this absolutely dire, lifeless and unutterably thrill-less thriller, Halle Berry plays an investigative journalist who, along with her close friend and tech genius Giovanni Ribisi, makes her living taking down powerful men. When one of her friends is murdered, she goes undercover working for Harrison Hill, played (?) by Bruce Willis, a powerful businessman who had been having an affair with the dead woman. There’s a solid movie in that synopsis. But that’s the only place it is; it certainly isn’t up there on the screen. The screenplay is dreadful, number one; it desperately wants to be a “tech” thriller, so it’s constantly going on about e-mail accounts and instant messengers and spyware and databases, but it’s clear the screenplay was written by people who had only a rudimentary understanding of most of this stuff. The dialogue is awful, even when you get past the ridiculously out of touch techie stuff. Foley’s direction is equally terrible. He has no idea how to really build a scene and so he’ll often just cut two or three together in a montage for no real reason. It’s been a while, honestly, since I’ve seen a movie where the editing jumped out at me as bad, but it’s really, really awful here. The performances? Well, look, Halle Berry is trying; she’s okay, but the script doesn’t give her a whole lot to work with here. I will go out on a limb here and say that I think Giovanni Ribisi is actually good here; it’s a very twitch and exterior performance and so some people will think it’s overdone and probably it is, but he finds a real sickness at the heart of his character and rolls with it, adding, in my opinion, layers that aren’t in the script. And what to say about Bruce Willis and his performance? Man, I’m willing to talk about it, if you can ******* find it. I mean, there’s coasting and then there’s sleep-walking and then there’s phoning it in and then there’s just barely being present which is what Willis is doing here. It’s one of his worst performances and that’s saying something. And there’s a scene between Willis and Berry where I’m pretty sure he isn’t actually there for her side of it. It’s a typical over-the-shoulder shot, but I do not believe that is actually the back of his head/shoulder. And that would be consistent with the rest of his performance here; he seems to barely care when the camera is on him, so when it’s on somebody else, I suspect he was not present. I mean, look, this movie is truly awful and it’s not even bad in an entertaining way, just in stupid ways. I suggest keeping this particular Stranger exactly that. ½ star.

    tl;dr – lifeless, dull and utterly without thrills, this tech-thriller also doesn’t get the tech right; Bruce Willis is near career worst and the story is poorly told with horrible dialogue. ½ star.
     
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  20. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    I haven't seen the original version of this, but I did see the U.S. cut. I was impressed when I heard that Raymond Burr took the story seriously, and refused to participate in efforts to make this version more humorous. And he wouldn't do any product placement.
     
  21. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    @Kenneth Morgan
    I've not seen any of the Raymond Burr versions yet, although the Criterion blu ray of the original Gojira also comes with the Americanized version so I'll check it out sometime.
     
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  22. PCCViking

    PCCViking Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2014
  23. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Second best SW movie.
     
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  24. PCCViking

    PCCViking Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2014
    And the best of the Disney produced/released ones.
     
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  25. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Yep
     
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