Rate the last movie you've seen #13

[AnthonyCordova]

Interstellar: 6/10

Tries too hard to be something it is not (profound). It feels like the product of people who are really enthusiastic about making something profound but don't have any real experiences of their own with that. The last 30 minutes really bothered me too. Do we really need every last detail explained and spelled out for us (McConoghey monologues)? They assume the audience to be that stupid. The magic of the movie gets fatally compromised in the process. It's like performing an impressive magic trick but then going on to explain for 30 minutes in pedantic detail every last aspect of the trick. And also, that kind of detailed explanation deprives the audience of the subjective experience of giving the movie meaning for themselves. Look at 2001: Space Odyssey. They resolved in 3 minutes of a quick succession of sequences what took Interstellar 30 anti-climactic minutes. It is okay to allow the audience space to fill in the gaps. That's what keeps people talking about 2001 Space Odyssey 30 years or more later. And sometimes what you DON'T say is as important and meaningful as what you do say. Interstellar is visually impressive but rather pedantic in terms of content and development.

 

[The Bronze]

I've had a busy month at the cinema. I'll start with the good.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - 9/10

I went into this with low expectations after seeing the trailer but was completely won over. It's an over the top action comedy with great characters, laugh out loud moments and ridiculous violence. Brilliant fun and well worth a watch.

Big Hero 6 - 4/10

A Disney marvel team up that falls really flat. A mish mash of all sorts of kids films and hero films that you've seen before with nothing to make it stick out. It's pretty predictable and I don't think I'll remember it in a few weeks time.

Fifty Shades of Grey - 1/10

Garbage. A boring story of two cardboard characters. I've not read any of the books so this was my first look at the global phenomenon and it left me baffled as to how it's so popular. A tale of a virgin with next to no personality considering a life of sexual slavery and abuse for a bit of cash. The guy's personality consists of being rich and being a dick. This film would have been wrapped up by a restraining order within half an hour if the guy worked in McDonalds. And the famous raunchy sex scenes? Do fans of this not realise that the internet is a fairly decent source of sex scenes? So poor story, characters & script that's also broadly offensive.

Jupiter Ascending - 2/10

This is a mess of a film. The main theme is very similar to the driving force of The Matrix but that's where the similarity ends. It's rammed full of CGI action sequences which are too long, completely unbelievable and ultimately boring. The characters are dull. There's no humour in the script. Jupiter bumbles through one ridiculous life threatening scene to the next without ever picking up a scratch. I get the feeling there was a good film in here somewhere trying to break out but it failed miserably.

 

[Mr Trick]

I've had a busy month at the cinema. I'll start with the good.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - 9/10

I went into this with low expectations after seeing the trailer but was completely won over. It's an over the top action comedy with great characters, laugh out loud moments and ridiculous violence. Brilliant fun and well worth a watch.

Big Hero 6 - 4/10

A Disney marvel team up that falls really flat. A mish mash of all sorts of kids films and hero films that you've seen before with nothing to make it stick out. It's pretty predictable and I don't think I'll remember it in a few weeks time.

Fifty Shades of Grey - 1/10

Garbage. A boring story of two cardboard characters. I've not read any of the books so this was my first look at the global phenomenon and it left me baffled as to how it's so popular. A tale of a virgin with next to no personality considering a life of sexual slavery and abuse for a bit of cash. The guy's personality consists of being rich and being a dick. This film would have been wrapped up by a restraining order within half an hour if the guy worked in McDonalds. And the famous raunchy sex scenes? Do fans of this not realise that the internet is a fairly decent source of sex scenes? So poor story, characters & script that's also broadly offensive.

Jupiter Ascending - 2/10

This is a mess of a film. The main theme is very similar to the driving force of The Matrix but that's where the similarity ends. It's rammed full of CGI action sequences which are too long, completely unbelievable and ultimately boring. The characters are dull. There's no humour in the script. Jupiter bumbles through one ridiculous life threatening scene to the next without ever picking up a scratch. I get the feeling there was a good film in here somewhere trying to break out but it failed miserably.

Not read the books either, I have a life😀 But something tells me that the film can only be a improvement. Will go in with a open mind🙂

 

[Halfrek]

Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers - 5/10

Really not a great comeback after H2 but still, I'm a massive fan of the Halloween series. Michael aesthetically just looked odd in this movie, the mask looked really cheap and the actor looked almost like a puppet, his movements and how he stood just had a tacky weird look about it which didn't emulate the Michael Myers from the first 2 movies. The kills weren't anywhere near as interesting although there were a good few creepy moments. The kids dressing up as Michael Myers all standing around the sheriff's car was kind of eerie and the scene with Michael on the rocking chair pretending to be the deputy was good...along with the rifle through the sheriff's daughter. Other than that it wasn't edge of your seat stuff and the scares just weren't there. Not to mention Michael putting his fingers through everybody's head was getting somewhat repetitive if not just plain gross.

Big credit to Danielle Harris as Jamie, she did so well given her age and it was nice they gave her a role in the new Rob Zombie remakes. Having Donald Pleasence back as Dr Loomis is always a treat, I LOVE his character and continue to love him the whole way through the series 🙂

 

[Mr Trick]

Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers - 5/10

Really not a great comeback after H2 but still, I'm a massive fan of the Halloween series. Michael aesthetically just looked odd in this movie, the mask looked really cheap and the actor looked almost like a puppet, his movements and how he stood just had a tacky weird look about it which didn't emulate the Michael Myers from the first 2 movies. The kills weren't anywhere near as interesting although there were a good few creepy moments. The kids dressing up as Michael Myers all standing around the sheriff's car was kind of eerie and the scene with Michael on the rocking chair pretending to be the deputy was good...along with the rifle through the sheriff's daughter. Other than that it wasn't edge of your seat stuff and the scares just weren't there. Not to mention Michael putting his fingers through everybody's head was getting somewhat repetitive if not just plain gross.

Big credit to Danielle Harris as Jamie, she did so well given her age and it was nice they gave her a role in the new Rob Zombie remakes. Having Donald Pleasence back as Dr Loomis is always a treat, I LOVE his character and continue to love him the whole way through the series 🙂

Yeah she has become a bit of a Scream queen hasn't she. Thought she was really good in See No Evil 2.

 

[JCoatsworth]

Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers - 5/10

Really not a great comeback after H2 but still, I'm a massive fan of the Halloween series. Michael aesthetically just looked odd in this movie, the mask looked really cheap and the actor looked almost like a puppet, his movements and how he stood just had a tacky weird look about it which didn't emulate the Michael Myers from the first 2 movies. The kills weren't anywhere near as interesting although there were a good few creepy moments. The kids dressing up as Michael Myers all standing around the sheriff's car was kind of eerie and the scene with Michael on the rocking chair pretending to be the deputy was good...along with the rifle through the sheriff's daughter. Other than that it wasn't edge of your seat stuff and the scares just weren't there. Not to mention Michael putting his fingers through everybody's head was getting somewhat repetitive if not just plain gross.

Big credit to Danielle Harris as Jamie, she did so well given her age and it was nice they gave her a role in the new Rob Zombie remakes. Having Donald Pleasence back as Dr Loomis is always a treat, I LOVE his character and continue to love him the whole way through the series 🙂

I haven't seen that one in ages. I think I caught it on TV one night as a kid when I was home alone.
What did you think of Halloween 3? I've watched that recently for the first time, and if you don't watch it like a Michael Myers movie but more like Twilight Zone kind of story, it's kind of cool, in my opinion. It has some really neat moments.

 

[jom]

i havent seen a movie in a long time, hollywood has become terrible at making movies. the last good movie i saw was a turn of the century english lesbian movie

 

[Skanky Vamp]

i havent seen a movie in a long time, hollywood has become terrible at making movies.

Maybe you are just watching the wrong movies.

 

[Halfrek]

Yeah she has become a bit of a Scream queen hasn't she. Thought she was really good in See No Evil 2.

Yeah I think she's really quite an underrated actress, she probably hasn't got much credit because she tends to be in horror movies a lot. I thought she was just as good in See No Evil 2 as well 🙂

I haven't seen that one in ages. I think I caught it on TV one night as a kid when I was home alone.
What did you think of Halloween 3? I've watched that recently for the first time, and if you don't watch it like a Michael Myers movie but more like Twilight Zone kind of story, it's kind of cool, in my opinion. It has some really neat moments.

I agree, and I really like Halloween 3 too. You really have to think of it as just 'Season of the Witch' and not part of the franchise though. I just like it as a movie on it's own, I like the whole mask idea and everything..I liked what they were going to originally do with the series having each movie a different story. It's a shame it didn't happen really seeing as the first 2 Halloween movies were the best anyway.

 

[Mr Trick]

Yeah I think she's really quite an underrated actress, she probably hasn't got much credit because she tends to be in horror movies a lot. I thought she was just as good in See No Evil 2 as well 🙂



I agree, and I really like Halloween 3 too. You really have to think of it as just 'Season of the Witch' and not part of the franchise though. I just like it as a movie on it's own, I like the whole mask idea and everything..I liked what they were going to originally do with the series having each movie a different story. It's a shame it didn't happen really seeing as the first 2 Halloween movies were the best anyway.

Similiar thing happened with Brad Dorief. Because he is the voice of Chucky then he gets stereotyped as a horror or sci-fi guy.

Carve Her Name With Pride (1958) 8/10

Enjoyable war time drama, with a strong female lead character. It tells a powerful story in an engaging way and at times is really moving. Nice direction from Lewis Gilbert best known for Rita and Me and a couple of Bond films.

The Kingsman (2014) 6/10

Very hit and miss. It started really strongly, but they quickly ran out of good jokes and the film just became predictable and a bit flat after awhile. Some of the class sterotypes were a bit much, and sending up Bond is a bit old hat. But it was enjoyable enough to pass the time and the lead performances were good.

Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) 6/10

Pretty straight forward thriller which is rised a level by the great Mimi Rogers and Lorraine Bracco. Not a big Tom Berenger fan though. The story wasn't too interesting and the film was watchable without ever being too gripping.

Borat (2006) 6.5/10

This fits into the admired rather than loved catagory. The physical humor, and energy of SBC is impressive and there are some sharp moments of satire. But for me the film too often went for the obvious gag or stereotype, and was either sending up the wrong people, or sending up people who didn't deserve to be sent up. Hit and miss.

Selma (2014) 8/10

A really powerful, but also restraint biopic. The performances are excellent across the board and it is tightly directed, and told in a smart but also unfussy way. 

i havent seen a movie in a long time, hollywood has become terrible at making movies. the last good movie i saw was a turn of the century english lesbian movie

So watch some films from different countries or some indie American cinema then. Plenty of good stuff out there you just need to track it down.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Jupiter Ascending - 2/10
This is a mess of a film.

I think the Wachowski's were definitely a one-hit wonder. They haven't anything of note since Matrix. Not that I actively watch their movies as they leave a curious aftertaste on my palette.

Which that leads me to M. Night Shyamalan. I personally find all the hate heaped upon him as undeserved. Generally speaking people speak ill of Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and Lady in the Water and point to those as his 'downfall' but honestly, those movies are not bad. I think the success of Sixth Sense and peoples expectations are what doomed those movies moreso the movie itself. None of them are as bad as the duo of Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas. (the happening we could argue is!! because hello!?!? Wahlberg as science teacher.. haha.. hahahahaha.. ha! really, it's that funny )

 

[thetopher]

I think the Wachowski's were definitely a one-hit wonder.

'Bound' was the first movie of their's that I saw, and it's a pretty tense gangster noir film...lesbian gangster noir film. But still it's pretty enjoyable.

Which that leads me to M. Night Shyamalan. I personally find all the hate heaped upon him as undeserved. Generally speaking people speak ill of Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and Lady in the Water

These films get lumped together unfairly imo.
To me 'Unbreakable' was a little better than 'The Sixth Sense' because I enjoyed it as a homage to the joy of comics books/superheroics,

'Signs' was very flawed but full of atmosphere, illogical but in a film that combines alien invasion with issues of faith that's sort of to be expected.

'The Village' was a bog standard horror movie with a lazy twist. Not bad, not good.

'Lady In The Water' was shockingly bad story telling combined with an incredibly arrogant message. Shyamalan inserts direct lecturing to his 'critics', thinks that some cruddy childrens story that he made up is worth filming, and he himself stars as a writer/messiah figure whose work is 'so important' to the world at large.
Really this film is teerrible on almost every level, not even Giamatti can save this.

However 'The Happening' is probably one of the best comedies I've seen in a while. Plenty of good belly laughs in that one, especially the 'outrun the wind' scene.😛

 

[Skanky Vamp]

'Lady In The Water' was shockingly bad story telling combined with an incredibly arrogant message. Shyamalan inserts direct lecturing to his 'critics', thinks that some cruddy childrens story that he made up is worth filming, and he himself stars as a writer/messiah figure whose work is 'so important' to the world at large.
Really this film is teerrible on almost every level, not even Giamatti can save this.

See, I just see Lady in the Water differently. I do think that if 'he himself stars as a writer/messiah figure whose work is so important to the world at large' was done differently.. if it were another actor, or even writer, in that role the entire movie would have faired better. When I hear complaints that aspect receives most of the venom. Excluding that, I really dont have a problem with the movie for what it was. It was a fun little fantasy. Freddy Rodriguez from 6 Feet Under was good in it.. with his one arm bigger than the other.. and Jeffrey Wright was, well Jeffrey Wright.

But see, 'The Village' I would not really call a horror movie either.

And.. I am guffawing literally because I forgot the outrun the wind.. ahaha

 

[Mr Trick]

thetopher beat me to the punch with Bound that is a very underrated film and one I return to a lot.

Problem with the Matrix is a bit like what happened with Star Wars (except that SW is shit of course😱) I think it was originally only suposed to be one film but then because of the unexpected success they were pressured into doing more. Not seen anything of theirs since the second Matrix.

Agree with some of Mr. Poles points on MNS. Although I do think Lady in the Water pretty much sucked and The Happening bored me. The problem partly with that film was that it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a big, dumb, fun b-movie, or something a bit more understated and just fell inbetween the two. I like Deschanel and Walberg, but I think either they were mis-cast in that film, or they just didn't want to be there, because they both slept their way through it. I did like his first few films. Even the Village which had flaws I liked. Need to see Signs. Not convinced of him as a great filmmaker, but I think you are right that he has been harshly treated.

 

[white avenger]

Fifty Shades of Grey - 1/10

Garbage. A boring story of two cardboard characters. I've not read any of the books so this was my first look at the global phenomenon and it left me baffled as to how it's so popular. A tale of a virgin with next to no personality considering a life of sexual slavery and abuse for a bit of cash. The guy's personality consists of being rich and being a dick. This film would have been wrapped up by a restraining order within half an hour if the guy worked in McDonalds. And the famous raunchy sex scenes? Do fans of this not realise that the internet is a fairly decent source of sex scenes? So poor story, characters & script that's also broadly offensive.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

I was beginning to think that I was all alone in feeling totally underwhelmed by this so called "blockbuster."

 

[Mr Trick]

Sometimes Channel five does have it uses (only UK posters will get that).

Innerspace (1987) 7.5/10

Another inventive, exciting and charming film from Joe Dante and a childhood favorite of mine too. The director merges Sci-Fi thrills, black comedy and romance into a very sucessful film. Martin Short has maybe never been better proving that he is more than an oddball supporting player. Meg Ryan is very cute, funny, and powerful, and Dennis Quiad does that Dennis Quiad thing down to a tea. There are some superb and nutty effects too. The only parts I don't like are when techology get in the way of character interactions. Mostly a joy to watch.

Stand By Me (1989) 7/10

Nicely observed coming of age drama, with a very cool and realistic feel to it. The best scenes are those with the boys just hanging out where their relationships just slowly build. There is also a darker tone to the film later on which I liked, but I can't say I was blown away or felt like it was the classic some see it as. Then again I have only seen it once.

 

[Taake]

Gone Girl 7/10
I did what I never do - I watched the movie instead of reading the book. I've been planning to read it but it's never in at my library so yesterday I decided to just watch the movie anyway. It was good, obviously I have nothing to compare it to but from watching it I can imagine that it's a fairly good read! I think it's pretty hard to make such a long movie interesting and not lose speed / direction so their tempo storytelling-wise impressed me.

Before watching it I read somewhere someone saying that after seeing/reading Gone Girl they would never again trust anyone called (or calling themselves) a "cool girl" - I totally get that now! Rosamund Pike was really good in this... I feel like I'll be checking under my bed to make sure Amy Dunne isn't there, lurking, planning, scheeming... she's my boogeywoman 😉

I'm no fan of Ben Affleck but he at least he didn't make me cringe in this. (Though the first sex scene between Nick and Amy was so... unsexy... it was like you could feel the presence of the cameras and that these two were very awkwardly acting)

Spoiler

At the end of it I was pretty disturbed by Amy and felt very bad for Nick. Mostly though I was like - dear god, don't bring a child into this!
If I were Nick I think I'd sleep behind a locked door for ever and ever.

The Other Woman 4/10
It is what it is. If you go into this expecting brilliance then... well then you didn't watch the trailer I bet. It's predictable but charming enough. For me it fell short in a few areas - e.g. falling into the trope of how Kate Upton's character is young and big chested ergo she's obviously a perky, lovable bimbo who's only on screen in a purely decorative manner. They throw her a few lines, sure, but really those are only there to mildly justify her presence. It's disappointing that she didn't get more to do because it would also have made her friendship to the other women more believable.

I did like the friendship between Kate and Carly, I thought that was nicely built and pretty solid towards the end (then they toss in Upton's character - whose name I can't even remember - just because they can.)

My biggest problem with the movie is simply that I don't really like Leslie Mann - she's so squeaky and borderline hysterical all the time, I just don't get her appeal at all.

All in all it was... not the worst movie I've seen. It was pretty standard for its genre.

 

[TotallySpiked]

@Taake I must really be crazy because I really liked The Other Woman. I didn't expect much from it so maybe that worked in my favour. I found it pretty funny but very on point for Cameron Diaz for her usual rom coms.
Keep in mind however, I did watch this straight after I watched Springbreakers, so that might explain everything.

 

[Mr Trick]

Gone Girl 7/10
I did what I never do - I watched the movie instead of reading the book. I've been planning to read it but it's never in at my library so yesterday I decided to just watch the movie anyway. It was good, obviously I have nothing to compare it to but from watching it I can imagine that it's a fairly good read! I think it's pretty hard to make such a long movie interesting and not lose speed / direction so their tempo storytelling-wise impressed me.

Before watching it I read somewhere someone saying that after seeing/reading Gone Girl they would never again trust anyone called (or calling themselves) a "cool girl" - I totally get that now! Rosamund Pike was really good in this... I feel like I'll be checking under my bed to make sure Amy Dunne isn't there, lurking, planning, scheeming... she's my boogeywoman 😉

I'm no fan of Ben Affleck but he at least he didn't make me cringe in this. (Though the first sex scene between Nick and Amy was so... unsexy... it was like you could feel the presence of the cameras and that these two were very awkwardly acting)

Spoiler

At the end of it I was pretty disturbed by Amy and felt very bad for Nick. Mostly though I was like - dear god, don't bring a child into this!
If I were Nick I think I'd sleep behind a locked door for ever and ever.

The Other Woman 4/10
It is what it is. If you go into this expecting brilliance then... well then you didn't watch the trailer I bet. It's predictable but charming enough. For me it fell short in a few areas - e.g. falling into the trope of how Kate Upton's character is young and big chested ergo she's obviously a perky, lovable bimbo who's only on screen in a purely decorative manner. They throw her a few lines, sure, but really those are only there to mildly justify her presence. It's disappointing that she didn't get more to do because it would also have made her friendship to the other women more believable.

I did like the friendship between Kate and Carly, I thought that was nicely built and pretty solid towards the end (then they toss in Upton's character - whose name I can't even remember - just because they can.)

My biggest problem with the movie is simply that I don't really like Leslie Mann - she's so squeaky and borderline hysterical all the time, I just don't get her appeal at all.

All in all it was... not the worst movie I've seen. It was pretty standard for its genre.

Think the key is that Affleck is well cast as a bland everyday guy. He is someone like Eastwood who will go on to have a much more interesting directing career IMO, but sometimes there are characters which are just made for him like this. Also, because most the depth comes from the Amy character then Affleck does not have as much to do as Pike which is a good thing. Didn't notice them being nervous during the sex scenes but then maybe I wasn't looking out for it.

 

[Taake]

Think the key is that Affleck is well cast as a bland everyday guy. He is someone like Eastwood who will go on to have a much more interesting directing career IMO, but sometimes there are characters which are just made for him like this. Also, because most the depth comes from the Amy character then Affleck does not have as much to do as Pike which is a good thing. Didn't notice them being nervous during the sex scenes but then maybe I wasn't looking out for it.

Agree on Affleck.
Oh, it was just the first one that I thought was awkward, when he's going down on her. Otherwise I had no complaints there.


@The Bronze two of those points are for the dog 😉