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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. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    Zeroville 2019

    James Franco stars and directs.

    so its kind've a comedy . Franco arrives in Hollywood in the 70s (there's no adherence to chronology , Love Story is being filmed at the same time as Star Wars.) , he gets a job at a studio and promptly meets the 'movie brats' , they're not named specifically , but they're obviously John Milius (guy likes to surf) , Lucas (he's making a movie about robots , Spielberg (making a shark movie) .
    Then there's a lot of talk about movies and editing , and ... pfft ... but I don't know what the point was.
     
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  2. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Sometimes I think the point in period films is "oh look at the big ol' phones they had then, the funny X clothes" because Hollywood loves their astounding resources scouting out all the old cars, etc. and parading them about! 1950's Singin' In The Rain looked back to 1927 and so on ... [face_cow]
     
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  3. 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
    That is actually a brilliant idea. Seems like there's a lot of mileage in that gag; sounds like the movie whiffs it though. Too bad.
     
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  4. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    well here's something I just discovered - there was a sequel to The Great Escape . made-for-tv , 1988 , starred Christopher Reeve. just came upon it on one of the channels.
     
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  5. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    I saw that when it first aired, and not once since. Didn't hold a candle to the original.
     
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  6. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Outside the Wire

    Despite the casting, this is a dud. Its principle problem is it doesn't really know what it wants its story to be - it starts off OK, with an idiot drone operator sent to learn how life works on the ground that he views far too dispassionately from the air. But then it changes into an anti-war riff with the war being maintained for US political purposes, including forever enslaving AI creations, but it just cannot follow through on that set-up all the way to the logical endpoint - an attack that demonstrates to the US just what the collateral damage they are happy for their military to inflict elsewhere actually means. That last-minute swerve renders it a very have-cake-and-eat-it story that just falls apart and is unsatisfying.
     
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  7. Chancellor Yoda

    Chancellor Yoda Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 25, 2014
    The Collector

    A little horror gem with a decent main character and a terrifying main antagonist to match and frankly surpass the protagonist. The Collector kind of stole the film as an insect-like human hunter that sets deadly traps like a spider and the film is fairly ambiguous on what the Collector even is. The main criticism I have is that the film does try to act like Saw a little too much IMO. Decent overall, especially if you like the more grimy, Saw-like horror flicks.
     
    pronker likes this.
  8. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    I've seen that and its sequel because I'm a big horror and Saw fan... Meh.
     
  9. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
    Disappointing and charmless. Even the spectacular action sequences are undermined by the decision to blast music over the action, no doubt trying to recapture the magic of the church scene from the previous film. It doesn't work.
     
  10. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2015
    Yesterday, I kind of binged a bit.
    So...

    Soylent Green 1973
    Which was still rather confronting with it's world falling apart from overpopulation, pollution and global warming.
    Charlton Heston investigating the murder, openly using his badge to steal every luxury he can because life is just that dire.
    This movie really showed the common fear of where the world was heading back then. Perhaps we still are, but somewhat more slowly.
    And like Planet of the Apes, it ends with a plot twist that everyone knows now, so now no one is surprised except my wife, and with Charlton yelling to the camera his outrage and horror.

    then, Everest (2015)
    The dramatised account of the terrible day on May 10 1996, when a bunch of climbers died climbing the mountain.
    I found it quite sad and needing to wrap a blanket around myself for warmth.

    then, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    Which is just pure art to me.
    I could float there in space breathing along with Bowman forever.
    Some people need dialog... "when do they start talking?"... and for those folk this movie is painfully boring. I just float in it.

    But halfway through my dear wife came home (I'd put it on in the hope of a completely quiet, dark house) and began chatting about the stuff she bought at Costco, and *sigh*. The spell was broken.
     
  11. 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
    Put her out the airlock.
     
  12. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    You need to start a project of seeing how many films can surprise your wife with famous, commonly-known twists. Does she know that Darth Vader is Luke’s father? Does she know that Rosebud is his sled? Does she know that Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze?

    Seven Seas to Calais. This film is from 1962, but it feels like a throwback to the days of Errol Flynn swashbucklers — agreeably so. Rod Taylor stars as Francis Drake, making buccaneering raids against the Spanish, and then foiling Spanish plots against Queen Elizabeth. The film is basically forgettable, with a muddled plot and not much going for it, but it has some decent swashbuckling action and Taylor displays solid charisma as the patriotically piratical lead. Its most memorable sequence may be a weird, racist interlude where Drake’s crew meets Native Americans and names the potato after a Native American woman named Potato, a gag so inspiredly left-field stupid that I can’t help but love it.
     
  13. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    David Lynch The Art Life
    2016, Directed by Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm

    This a compelling film about the first 30 years of David Lynch's life told almost entirely through interviews with him talking, smoking, pondering, and working, at his LA home/art studio, and through archival footage, home movies, and photographs from his own private collection.

    Starting out with with his idyllic childhood in Boise, Idaho where he was raised in a kind home during the Eisenhower years, to his traumatizing move to Virginia where he started high school, this film throughout does a subtle job of giving one insight into his work and art without referencing any of his famous films by name except one.

    After a brief stint in Boston, Lynch moved to Philadelphia, a city he described as mean, racist, filthy, and terrifying, to pursue his dreams of making it as an artist. Philly proved to be a turning point in his life, providing him with lots of the imagery he would become famous for being "just perfect to spark things."

    The film culminates with Lynch receiving a grant from AFI, moving to sunny LA and obtaining the freedom and support to create his first masterwork Eraserhead which he claims is still one of the best experiences of his life.

    The look of the film is unique, including home movies, still photographs of his family, his paintings, a few brief clips of his early art/film pieces, and contemporary shots of him working, thinking, and spending time with his toddler daughter. These scenes were filmed on a Canon EOS 5D digital camera and an iPhone 5.

    Highly recommended for fans of documentaries in general and essential viewing for Lynch fans.
     
  14. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 1, 2014
    Tremors Giant worm like creatures, called graboids, that take their prey by burrowing beneath them are terrorising the small town of Perfection on the same day that local repairmen Val and Earl (Kevin Bacon and Burt Ward) are trying to leave town. Every exit is blocked as they come across more bodies and so they have to stay in the town and help the remaining residents find a way to escape before the graboids bring the town down around them. This is such a great homage to monster movies of years gone by that doesn't take itself too seriously, with everyone looking like they're having fun with it, hamming it up. Its one of those films with a lot of faces that are familiar, but you can't quite place what they were in. It borrows heavily from Jaws of course and they get the blend between comedy and light thriller/horror just right . I don't recall ever seeing this on the cinema, but I'm pretty sure my dad hired it on video when it came out in the early 90's. A cult classic?
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2021
  15. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    Romeo & Juliet (2021)
    Filmed in an empty theatre in 17 days, this fast-moving no-frills modern-dress version is very good. Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor are the doomed lovers, and Buckley in particular is very winning; stand-out for me though goes to Tamsin Greig, whom I mainly know from her comedic roles, as a downright frightening Lady Capulet - that's a lady you do not want to cross!
     
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  16. Beef_Sweetener

    Beef_Sweetener Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2005
    Unhinged

    It's that Russell Crowe road rage movie. It's ok.
     
  17. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 22, 2000
    Coming 2 America
    [​IMG]

    In an emoji: :)

    Coming 2 America to me, is one of the better sequels that place about 30 years later from the original film as the nostalgic factor was strong in this film. The story is not that great or heartfelt as the original, and the humor is gives chuckles here and there. What's lost in this film is the magic of Eddie Murphy and his fish out of water character, Akeem. However, I found this film worth watching just to revisit the world of Zamunda and see Eddie Murphy back in action, as I remember a time when Eddie Murphy was one of the biggest pop icons.
     
  18. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    Castle Keep 1969
    Sidney Pollack

    WWII drama.
    ok this is an interesting film , it's one of those contemplative war movies where we find the characters talking philosophically while carnage is going on . some similarities with Catch 22 , but I'm not sure how they thought it'd make money , it cost over $8mil.

    great cast , and some great photography but I don't think its as smart as it thinks it is.
     
  19. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 1, 2014
    48 hrs, Trading Places, Beverley Hills Cop 1 & 2, Golden Child and Coming to America are all films I can stick on at any time and watch. One of those iconic celebrities of the 80's IMO.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2021
  20. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    Race With The Devil (1975) Solid Jack Starrett helmed action horror about two couples at the wrong place at the wrong time. The husbands witness a Satanic human sacrifice en route to their vacation destination of Aspen, CO. After attempting to report the murder to local authorities, the quartet evade the Satanists only to eventually
    find themselves surrounded by the cult filled with everyone they tried to report the ritual murder to. You can guess how this ends.

    Starrett was no stranger to directing entertaining B movies -and this one- starring Warren Oates and Peter Fonda is quite good, despite the obvious bread crumbs leading to the finale.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2021
  21. BigAl6ft6

    BigAl6ft6 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2012
    Whole whack of reviews from last few months herein. Time loops, giant monsters, Motherboxes, dragons Kings, Mackie robots, snitches! More!

    The Map of Tiny Perfect things
    Although Groundhog Day is the most notable example, the time loop story is its own genre by this point. There are time loop episodes of Agents of SHIELD, Star Trek, movies like Edge of Tomorrow, the recent (very fantastic) Palm Springs and a whole bunch more. The latest entry in the time loop genre is The Map of Tiny Perfect Things and while two time loopers falling in love is very similar to Palm Springs, it’s sort of a mash-up of Groundhog Day and the young people walk and talk philosophically about life of Before Sunrise. There are bits where this movie seems a bit too enamoured of its concept of finding perfect moments, but it provides some cool twists in the time loop genre and the chemistry of the two leads carries a lot.

    Outside the Wire
    In multiple ways, Netflix has carved out niche audience appeal, one of which is the R-rated action genre which is increasingly becoming a rarity. But Netflix cranks out an R-rated action movie every few months like The Old Guard, Extraction, Project Power, and their latest one is the sci-fi military action flick Outside the Wire. That is a terrible generic title that doesn’t describe a movie that consists of robot gunfire action. The lead character also spends a lot of time pontificating about their mission and why he’s special which gets a little repetitive, but the character lets star Anthony Mackie be a little less Falcon and a little more Winter Solider. And while Wire is set in the near future of 2036, the sci-fi concepts seem a wee bit too advanced for only 15 years. Still there is a satisfying cacophony of chaos and by the end it gets a little sci-fi moralizing ala The Day the Earth Stood Still. Also, robots blowing stuff up!

    Coming 2 America
    The original Coming to America is one of Eddie Murphy’s comedy classics from his famous hot streak which eventually collapsed into a pile of misbegotten titles like The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Norbit. Three decades later, Coming 2 America isn’t exactly the most timely continuation as comedy and legacy sequels are hard to pull off. This is one of those remake/sequel films except flipping the primary location from the US to Zamunda and now its the US native out of place. Murphy remains an extremely nimble and versatile performer as his Prince Akeem and the assorted side characters he plays are great, although sometimes Akeem seems to be frustratingly sidelined in his own franchise. While this is missing the hilariously jarring profanity bombs from the original, it still has a lot of fun. It’s probably most guilty of being an irrelevant sequel and has a wee bit too many musical numbers but it is enjoyable to see these characters again.

    Raya and the Last Dragon
    Raya and the Last Dragon is an enjoyably zippy, quippy, and visually lush animated adventure. It doesn’t quite break ground in the Disney adventure movie formula as it follows certain predetermined beats: there’s a heroic lead, a comedic animated sidekick who surprisingly supplies pathos and some supporting oddball characters, but there are some formula tweaks along the way. It looks consistently great, has solid action and one-liners as things pay off emotionally in the finale. Also the story of a post-apocalyptic land ravaged by plague that is healed by everyone getting along is fairly resonant.

    Zack Snyder's Justice League
    Zack Snyder may be credited as the director of 2017’s Justice League but for him that movie remained unfinished. Snyder suffered a personal tragedy and was fending off studio interference from Warner Brothers so he left the movie which was completed with multiple reshoots by Avengers director Joss Whedon. Years later, Snyder’s complete version has been released as Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It’s a sprawling effort, sometimes way too sprawling at four freaking hours that jettisons anything exclusive to the Whedon version. While some lame bits from the Whedon version have been dropped, some good quips have been lost as well. But new individual moments are kind of great. Maybe someday they’ll be a trim, 90 minute version that combines the best bits of both movies. This is either the definitive Justice League or an interesting aside into how big budget blockbusters can be made, unmade and then remade again after people online complain enough.

    Judas and the Black Messiah
    Judas and the Black Messiah certainly has an appropriate title as the two main characters are a traitor and a messianic leader. Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations were awarded to both actors even though it makes no sense to label them “supporting” since the story is focused on both, does that mean the Academy thought nobody was the lead? Anyway, gripes about nomination weirdness aside, this is a decent undercover thriller that has pertinent points about racial inequity and police brutality that is still valid today. The downside is Judas meanders with a few side plots and lots of speeches that aren’t as dramatically compelling as the story of one man selling out his newfound friends for a few dollars more.

    Godzilla vs Kong
    Godzilla vs. Kong knows the audience wants giant monsters smacking the bejesus out of each other. On that front it certainly delivers, repeatedly and often. This confrontation has been teased since 2014’s Godzilla, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters as each installment has realized the human characters are filler. However, Godzilla vs. Kong often drags down to the point of view of the little people who remain steadfastly uninteresting. But when the movie goes for Titans delivering multiple punches to the face, and stirring things up with an unexpected new element, it’s gloriously stupid.
     
  22. Guidman

    Guidman Skywalker Saga Mod and Trivia Host star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 29, 2016
    Sound of Metal

    For a film that didn't reinvent the wheel with sound design/mixing, this might be one of the most amazing auditory experiences of a movie. Taking everyday basic sounds and distorting them or entirely drowning them out, perfectly put the viewer in Ruben's point-of-view. I thought Riz Ahmed's and Paul Raci's performances were both phenomenal (especially Raci, every scene he was in was great). I will say, I thought the last act of the movie in Paris lost some steam or went on a tad too long. The middle act at the shelter was very good, but the end scene of the film was perfect though. You won't get too many films that offer a sensory experience like this one.
     
  23. Yoda's_Roomate

    Yoda's_Roomate Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2000
    Judas and the Black Messiah

    Powerful film, with a phenomenal performance by Daniel Kaluuya. IMHO, the Oscar for best actor is between him and Anthony Hopkins.
     
  24. Darth Smurf

    Darth Smurf Small, but Lethal star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 22, 2015
    Re-Animator (1985)
    Great classic 80ies splatter movie. While the whole movie has some lenghts (for a splatter movie) the last 20 minutes belong to the top sequences of the genre. A must-see for fans of movies like Evil Dead or Braindead.
     
  25. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    Maybe I am misremembering but one of my favorite scenes in a dark horror comedy involves the reanimated
    older professor’s eyes rolling as his headless body tries to navigate its surroundings and bumps into stuff. Classic slapstick but still gets a laugh from me.