Rate the Last Movie You've Seen #14

[Taake]

The Age of Innocence -
Hard to rate. I love the book so I was intrigued by the movie as I love the leads as well - Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis - but something about the book just didn't translate well to film. Through no ones fault really. There wasn't much fault in it, except that it felt oddly lacking and kind of... well, dull. The actors and the direction and sets were perfectly adequate but for whatever reason it, as said, the story just didn't come across as well in this format.
I'd recommend the book instead 🙂 because anyone interested in this kind of movie would probably enjoy it anyhow.

Imagine me and you - 3/5
Maybe that's too generous, hm anyway, a cute little romantic movie about two women meeting at the one woman's wedding and later falling in love. Just as sweet film, nothing earth shattering, just cosy as background noise while I was sewing. Haha, funny though was that I was thinking of watching BtVS and decided I was more in the mood for a movie, and what happens when I turn the movie on? Giles! Or you know... Anthony Stewart Head. He plays Piper Perabo's quite humerously bitter fathe.

 

[Taake]

Just watched "Hollywoodland" - 8/10
It was a good movie, I'm surprised I haven't heard about it before. Adrian Brody and Diane Lane are terrific (even Ben Affleck does a good job).

 

[white avenger]

"Maggie" 7.5-10

A real departure from his Terminator/action hero image for Arnold Schwarzenegger as a common man who has to face the reality that his daughter is slowly turning into a zombie, and he is helpless to do anything about it. Not a perfect movie, certainly, but well worth watching, in my opinion.

 

[ItMustBeBunnies]

Horns - 8/10

I've been wanting to see this movie for ages. Its based on a book by Joe Hill, which I love. I was nervous that it would suck, but it wasn't to bad. Loved the soundtrack and it was well cast, including all of the supporting cast including James Remar, David Morse and Heather Graham. When I first heard Daniel Radcliffe was going to play Iggy I winced, but he actually did a really good job. The only one I didn't care for was the guy who played Lee. The horns themselves where pretty well done as well, I'm glad they made the choice to go with something more "realistic" than halloweenish.

 

[Mr Trick]

So I went for a sunday of kick back films, one a cheesy 80s romantic comedy, and the other a recent straight to DVD (or straight to Netflx in this case😉) thriller with contrasting results.

Cousins (1989) 7/10

A very likeable, and well paced romance with Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini as two people who reliase early on that they are being cheated on by their respective partners (with each other) and decide to enjoy each others company, first to get back at their other halves, but then romance blossoms for real. Danson is at his charasmatic and charming best, and Rossellini does a remarkable performance as shy, but funny, and powerful Maria, for her it is playing against type, but its a really believeable and likeable performance. They make for a sweet couple and there are lots of fine supporting performances from the likes of William Petersen (best known for Manhunter), and Lloyd Bridges who not suprisely steals many of the best lines😛 At times some of the family antics at weddings etc.. become a little distracting and take away from the film more than they add, but it is fun and engaging light hearted watch, and Joel Schumacher does a tidy job in directing.

The Roommate (2011) 2/10

This would have been unbareable if not for the fact that it is so obvouislly ripped off from Single White Female. Not only does it rip that film off but it basically repeats many of its key moments, but over telegraphs them by 100. At least in that film you had two steller leads and the sense of visual style and suprise, none of that here. The acting makes the acting on 90210 look oscar winning, the characters are complete cardboard cutouts with zero growth over the course of the film, even if you haven't seen SWF this is still very predictable. Its really bland, and worse of all the women and men, but mostly women are treated as the worse stereotypes, either they are insanely jealous, slutty, or slightly shy girls who actually just want to be in fashion. And the Billy Zane camino is halrious! Boy does he look pissed off that he has reached the age where he is just cast as the creepy teacher who just serves a subplot😉 The ending is really over blown and annoying too. Its really bad🙄

 

[The Bronze]

The Age of Adeline - 5/10

Another one chosen by my girlfriend! It's a very steady film. It's a decent concept that's sort of original but feels like you might have seen it before, if that makes any sense. It's quite a sad tone through most of it but has its light moments. Predictable enough ending. The worst bit is the attempt to scientifically explain what's happening. Speaking nonsense for a couple of minutes for no real gain. Decent enough but I'll probably forget I've seen it within a few months.

 

[Faith Monroe]

I saw two-
Big Eyes- Really good actually- I'm a big Amy Adams fan and I thought that she did a fantastic job in this movie. I was really shocked to learn that it was based off real events- I felt so bad for the main character. The scene in the court room was the best- so I give it an 9/10

Still Alice-
Let me start off by saying that Kristen Stewart really surprised me in this. I expected a less than stellar performance truthfully after the whole Twilight series. She was very good, as was Julienne Moore. This was a very emotional movie, and very well played out. So 9/10 as well.

 

[Blaze]

Avengers Age of Ultron: 6/10
Decent movie. Wasn't great, but it was good fun. To be fair I'm bias cause I don't really like Superhero movies, and this is like 10 Superhero movies into one. Wasn't Joss' greatest work, but probably not the worst either. Wanda was the better part for me, I'm a huge fan of X-Men (the exception to the not liking hero movie rule), and I thought the character was pretty cool. Different than what I would expect her character to be, but her powers were still well done, can't believe she hasn't been in the main franchise yet. It was bullshit that they couldn't refer to X-Men though, kinda defeats the purpose of having them there.

Mad Max: 10/10

Loved it. It had been a while since I had seen a proper action movie but with actual substance. The plot is super simple, but they make it work. And the stunts are amazing. Theron also plays one bad ass character. Oh and the soundtrack, that was an amazing soundtrack! 

Let me start off by saying that Kristen Stewart really surprised me in this. I expected a less than stellar performance truthfully after the whole Twilight series.

Honestly, I used to hate on KS thinking she sucked as an actress. That was before I saw her in anything other than Twilight. Now I realize it was 100% the material, cause KS has actually done many stellar performances. I feel bad for ever saying she was bad, she's actually pretty dam great.

 

[Mr Trick]

Avengers Age of Ultron: 6/10
Decent movie. Wasn't great, but it was good fun. To be fair I'm bias cause I don't really like Superhero movies, and this is like 10 Superhero movies into one. Wasn't Joss' greatest work, but probably not the worst either. Wanda was the better part for me, I'm a huge fan of X-Men (the exception to the not liking hero movie rule), and I thought the character was pretty cool. Different than what I would expect her character to be, but her powers were still well done, can't believe she hasn't been in the main franchise yet. It was bullshit that they couldn't refer to X-Men though, kinda defeats the purpose of having them there.

Mad Max: 10/10

Loved it. It had been a while since I had seen a proper action movie but with actual substance. The plot is super simple, but they make it work. And the stunts are amazing. Theron also plays one bad ass character. Oh and the soundtrack, that was an amazing soundtrack! 


Honestly, I used to hate on KS thinking she sucked as an actress. That was before I saw her in anything other than Twilight. Now I realize it was 100% the material, cause KS has actually done many stellar performances. I feel bad for ever saying she was bad, she's actually pretty dam great.[/QUOTE]

I think she's a fine actress, nothing special, but normally pretty solid and deserves credit for wanting to be in different kinds of films. But I do think whatever film she is in that she just plays the standard moody, slacker type character, so I do think she should expand her range more.

Looking forward to Mad Max mostly because of Theron she is bad arse right now!

 

[Taake]

Sinister - 5/10
It wasn't all that sinister really. It was kind of cozy, but not all that scary or anything. I liked it fine but at the end of it all it just left a bit of a flat taste in my mouth. (and my brother was really disappointed cause he wanted a good scary movie)

 

[caitaintdead]

There will be spoilers ahead so stop reading now if you're not interested in hearing them.

The Babadook 9/10
I have found that lots of well critiqued films are often a bit slow, but The Babadook was quick to grab my attention which I liked. Although the cast obviously had Australian accents, it could have been set anywhere and did not rely on silly over the top Australian stereotypes or landscapes which was refreshing. Yes, it could have been a suburb in Melbourne or Perth, and people that I knew, but I feel like this could be said about people in certain suburbs of Canada, or Ireland, or America. Immediately I noticed the similarity to the classic film 'The Innocence", which is a psychological thriller from 1961 which revolves around an innocent minded governess becoming convinced that the house she lives in is haunted, and that the ghosts have possessed the two young children in her care. It battles back and forth between 'is the woman mad?', and 'is the house haunted?' and in a wonderfully enjoyably frustrating way leaves it quiet open ended. Throughout the film I also found many, many comparisons to The Shining. Tired and frail looking mum? Check. Adorable child actor that is acting the shit out of his role? Check. Exploring the bonds between the role of care taker and child? Check. There are also specific scenes which pay homage to The Shining, including Jack Nicholson's iconic scene of smashing the door in with the axe, in this version the mother with the axe, and the child cowering behind the door. Once you bare in mind that only a few scenes earlier she had been reading him the three little pigs ("I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down") it becomes clear that this is indeed a homage, as opposed to simple inspiration. And how does our adorable little boy get out of this situation? It's with an unexpected guest of course! Sam's lovely elderly neighbour comes knocking on the door to check on the family, just like Dick Holloran does in The Shining and both Amelia and Jack are distracted for long enough to allow their potential victims time to escape and hide.
I'm sure that there are dozens more similarities, and I'm looking forward to rewatching this film to try and find them knowing what the outcome of the film is.
This is what Australian film making should be doing. It is never about making a great 'Aussie film' with The Babadook. It is purely about making a great film. It has top quality cinematography, story and acting and never tries to tell a story to the lowest common denominator.
At times it is hard to watch, just like any psychological thriller tends to be, but making it through the film feels rewarding somehow. Especially as we are not left with a completely sad sack of an ending.
About 3/4 of the way through the film I paused the film and said to my mum. "She's going to kill him, and then herself. The final scene is going to be the camera crew reporting on this, with Australia, and the world asking what made this woman go so mad". I suppose what made this film so frightening to me was that this does happen. There are women and men in the world who simply go mad and kill their children. Exploring both this and the act of grieving through The Babadook was powerful, scary and sad.!
Has anyone else on here seen the film? I would love to hear what people outside of the land of Oz think!

 

[Taake]

Fuffy Baith: Really? I thought it was scary. It got me.

Maybe I'm just horribly jaded 😉

Funny that you mention Babadook, my brother really wanted to watch it this weekend as well, but we didn't find the time (did not read what you wrote about it cause I expect we will find the time sooner or later 🙂)

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Has anyone else on here seen the film? I would love to hear what people outside of the land of Oz think!

I have not seen it. I thought it was like a kids horror movie though. From what little marketing I have seen. The imagery, et al made it seem more like... a 'kids' movie. But I may have to reevalutate my position, as it sounds alittle like A New Nightmare which is one of my favorites.

 

[JCoatsworth]

Mad Max: Fury Road - 8/10
Sick! Just sick! This is everything an action film should be; real cars, real crashes, real explosions. The story is simple, which makes the film all the more enjoyable. Too many action movies try to make their story needlessly complicated with too many twists and turns. Fury Road keeps it simple enough but never becomes a "dumb" action movie. The characters - especially Charlize Theron's character, who's just badass - and their motivations are interesting, the post-apocalyptic world, which George Miller created, is fascinating, and the action scenes are stunning. On top of all that, we get a beautiful soundtrack.
As far as action movies go, this might just be the best of the decade.

 

[The Bronze]

Pitch Perfect 2 - 7/10
Light and enjoyable movie. There's nothing particularly special about it but there are lots of laughs to be had. The highlight on that front is the male commentator who's name I can't remember. Everything he says is hilariously offensive. Also you've got to appreciate the German team in the film. I'm told they're a real group and it's very impressive. Some decent song choices thrown in as well.

Big Game - 7.5/10
An unusual action film. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but I really enjoyed it. Samuel L. Jackson plays a slightly pathetic president who grows throughout the film. The child actor has a good screen presence. You get a good laugh with some of the dialogue as I think the Finnish were really sending up the Americans. The action shots were nice as well. Would recommend giving this one a look.

 

[caitaintdead]

I have not seen it. I thought it was like a kids horror movie though. From what little marketing I have seen. The imagery, et al made it seem more like... a 'kids' movie. But I may have to reevalutate my position, as it sounds alittle like A New Nightmare which is one of my favorites.

Give us your review!!!

 

[Mr Trick]

@Mr Pole Babadook is far from a kids horror films and I would be surprised of any promotion you have seen to suggest that. Its not really approaite for anyone over the age of about 14 or 15. I think its a proper old school horror, which comes from a very real place and plays on the axeities between a mother and her son and turn that into something twisted and sinister. I loved the design of the film and thought it was very well directed and acted. A horror gem for me.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Give us your review!!!

Yes ma'am

The Babadook is an art-house horror film with great style and at times stunning visuals. The film tries to create horror in the same vein as The Shining or Silence of the Lambs but it falls a little short, more along the lines of Annabelle or Ouija.

The film does contain a sense a style, yet no style can save you from the horrors of clichés, annoying characters and overall a general a lack of scares. The acting and directing was solid, but ultimately this could be compared to any anxious parent/eerie kid movie, such as De Niro's Hide and Seek, del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark or the aforementioned Shining. Some scenes even seem to be lifted from those source materials. In other words, you've seen it all before. Sure, this may have more polish and panache but… there is not much else to separate the movies.

The 'monster' appears a little less than halfway through the movie, yet despite it being the title of the film, it serves as nothing more than a bait and switch to get movie viewers to see a movie about a dysfunctional family in the horror milieu. The film would have been better served to leave out the Babadook and focus on the real monster: the mother; or to provide some worthwhile ending instead of the minor disappointment we get. When the film finally ratchets up, we are denied a payoff, it's like someone turned the roller coaster off too soon and you are left with the 'thats it' feeling.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Though, that being said, if you like movies like Annabelle, Insidious and Ouija then I could see where this would certainly be rated much higher. Compared to some of it's competition it's first class.

 

[Mr Trick]

Yes ma'am

The Babadook is an art-house horror film with great style and at times stunning visuals. The film tries to create horror in the same vein as The Shining or Silence of the Lambs but it falls a little short, more along the lines of Annabelle or Ouija.

The film does contain a sense a style, yet no style can save you from the horrors of clichés, annoying characters and overall a general a lack of scares. The acting and directing was solid, but ultimately this could be compared to any anxious parent/eerie kid movie, such as De Niro's Hide and Seek, del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark or the aforementioned Shining. Some scenes even seem to be lifted from those source materials. In other words, you've seen it all before. Sure, this may have more polish and panache but… there is not much else to separate the movies.

The 'monster' appears a little less than halfway through the movie, yet despite it being the title of the film, it serves as nothing more than a bait and switch to get movie viewers to see a movie about a dysfunctional family in the horror milieu. The film would have been better served to leave out the Babadook and focus on the real monster: the mother; or to provide some worthwhile ending instead of the minor disappointment we get. When the film finally ratchets up, we are denied a payoff, it's like someone turned the roller coaster off too soon and you are left with the 'thats it' feeling.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Though, that being said, if you like movies like Annabelle, Insidious and Ouija then I could see where this would certainly be rated much higher. Compared to some of it's competition it's first class.

That's a very well written review, but I disagree with pretty much all of it. First of all its way more scary than The Shining which to me is one of the most overrated horrors ever. As for the clichés part? I think there are two things about that. Firstly its because there are only so many stories you can tell espically in a genre like horror and they've all been told before. Second, rather than them being clichés I would say they are a welcome return to classic horror tropes based on the human condition, and creating suspense through characters, atmosphere and plot. Yeah its stylish but the style adds to the suspense and is gothic, dark and twisted. I don't see why you are linking the film to those terrible main stream horrors I don't see the link at all (well maybe a little in the plot but that's about it). Think with those films, not only do they hit you over the head with jump out of your seat moments, but they are too highly stylized and produced on a higher budget. This doesn't look glossy, it looks organic and raw, it looks gothic and dreamy. Its low budget stripped back horror, and is all the better for it. Finally I think you are over looking the human bond between mother and child and how the film plays on that. For me this is more in line with Japanise horror such as The Ring and Dark Water than those American films you mentioned.

 

[caitaintdead]

Yes ma'am

The Babadook is an art-house horror film with great style and at times stunning visuals. The film tries to create horror in the same vein as The Shining or Silence of the Lambs but it falls a little short, more along the lines of Annabelle or Ouija.

The film does contain a sense a style, yet no style can save you from the horrors of clichés, annoying characters and overall a general a lack of scares. The acting and directing was solid, but ultimately this could be compared to any anxious parent/eerie kid movie, such as De Niro's Hide and Seek, del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark or the aforementioned Shining. Some scenes even seem to be lifted from those source materials. In other words, you've seen it all before. Sure, this may have more polish and panache but… there is not much else to separate the movies.

The 'monster' appears a little less than halfway through the movie, yet despite it being the title of the film, it serves as nothing more than a bait and switch to get movie viewers to see a movie about a dysfunctional family in the horror milieu. The film would have been better served to leave out the Babadook and focus on the real monster: the mother; or to provide some worthwhile ending instead of the minor disappointment we get. When the film finally ratchets up, we are denied a payoff, it's like someone turned the roller coaster off too soon and you are left with the 'thats it' feeling.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Though, that being said, if you like movies like Annabelle, Insidious and Ouija then I could see where this would certainly be rated much higher. Compared to some of it's competition it's first class.

I think arguing that the monster is simply a bait and switch is oversimplifying a complex issue.

The grief/monster is found in the house, where it has been all along. Probably since the death of her husband and birth of her child. It has always been at the surface, where the child has been able to feel the presence and see the truth of the situation all along. The mother has found ways to push the grief/monster under the surface by refusing to accept the circumstances and her true feelings. She has told all of the people in her life to not bring up her husband, and refuses to celebrate the day of her child's birth as it reminds her of the death of her husband. Finally the grief/monster surfaces and the battle begins. Eventually the mother realises that grief/monster needs to be faced head on, but just like real grief, it can never be completely destroyed. The film ends with the mother and child finding worms in their garden and the mother going down into the basement to feed the worms the to grief/monster. If we look at the analogies in the final scene the meaning of this becomes clear. Basements represent our subconscious and the place in which we store things that we cannot face every day. The meaning that I would draw from the usage of the worms would be the analogy of worms representing a persons negativity. If we look at it in this way the mother is finding a way to bring her all negativity surrounding her husbands death and grief that she has felt into her subconscious. The second reading of an earthworm is that it represents new life, a perfect analogy for the fact that she lost one man in her life, but now has another to feed and care for.

If we look at the monster as an analogy for grief all of a sudden the 'that's it' feeling that you get at the end seems to be more grim, more realistic, and more optimistic all at the same time.