Rate The Last Movie You Saw - 2

[Down by the River]

The Jerry Seinfeld Special on Netflix:

 

It's like a continuation of the 'member berries joke from South Park... except it doesn't think that it is continuing the joke. 

[Monty]

The Firm - 7.5/10

 

If I've ever seen it, I was 11 and I don't remember it at all.

 

There was a time where John Grisham's name meant something. Great flick with  A LOT of actors who are still around today.

 

Except for Gene Hackman. Who's last film was Welcome to Mooseport 

[Monty]

 

New Wes Anderson trailer dropped. Looks more enjoyable than any children's film released in the last 15 years.

[D-Money]

13 hours ago, Monty said:

The Firm - 7.5/10

 

If I've ever seen it, I was 11 and I don't remember it at all.

 

There was a time where John Grisham's name meant something. Great flick with  A LOT of actors who are still around today.

 

Except for Gene Hackman. Who's last film was Welcome to Mooseport 

What's with great actors going out on such low notes?

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the ones who died were just circumstances. But those who just made the decision to retire... ...perhaps working on that movie was the last straw.

[Monty]

21 hours ago, D-Money said:

 

 

 

 

 

Wagon's East was particularly awful.

 

I loved Fu Manchu as a kid. But I revisited it a few years ago. That was a mistake.

 

As for Hackman, truly an underappreciated actor to the general audience. Hollywood loved him because he was such a constant. Never put in a bad performance. I understand him retiring when he did, as he was already in his mid 70s. But he should have gone out with The Royal Tenenbaums, to which it's shocking he wasn't even nominated for Best Actor for the Oscars, when he was nominated and won at the Golden Globes for the same role.

[Shift-4]

Pompeii   lol/10

[Alflives]

Interstellar.  10/10

[Western Red]

9 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Interstellar.  10/10

Have you seen Moon or The Martian? Those are both phenomenal and in the same vein.

[The Bookie]

It  8/10

 

It's a low bar to clear but this is probably the best King adaptation in years. Very close to the source material and they nailed the bad joke element of Pennywise's character. A little over reliant on jump scares, but oh well, hoping the 2nd part might move past that to more drawn out tension (adults v. kids, etc)

[Monty]

11 hours ago, The Bookie said:

It  8/10

 

It's a low bar to clear but this is probably the best King adaptation in years. Very close to the source material and they nailed the bad joke element of Pennywise's character.

Going to watch this tonight.

 

However, in reference to this:

 

11 hours ago, The Bookie said:

A little over reliant on jump scares, but oh well, hoping the 2nd part might move past that to more drawn out tension (adults v. kids, etc)

Doubtful. While I've read and heard good things about it, it does pander to idiots with the jump scares. That's where the money is. Idiots (see: Michael Bay fans).

[aGENT]

Finally watched The Witch...not exactly sure what to rate it frankly.

 

The main film body of the film was excellent on many levels. The period accurate costumes/dialogue/set design etc, the 'atmosphere' is wonderfully palpable The mood/creepiness and history/folklore/religious take is great. 

 

But I felt a bit let down by the ending. It was doing wonderfully well creating a tense somewhat is it/isn't it dimension and then went almost laughably in a very 'obvious', almost cheap direction for the final scenes that completely pulled me out of the movie.

[Monty]

Spider Man Homecoming

 

Usually I'll post my short review right after watching a film (like an hour or so). In this case, I took the night, as I want to see how much superhero films stick with you.

 

Absolutely forgettable. Didn't care about the characters, didn't care about the story. Nobody will even know it existed in 5 years.

[Shift-4]

Cabin Fever

 

Don't/10

 

If you haven't watched it pretend I am the friend that just took a bullet for you. Don't waste your time.

[nuckin_futz]

Bleed For This  7.5/10

 

This is the (semi) true story of champion boxer Vinny Pazienza who's career was ended in a car wreck. Doctors tell him he'll never walk again. He eventually makes a miraculous return to the ring. 

 

I nearly fell over laughing when I saw Miles Teller was playing Pazienza but I have to admit he did a fantastic job. They did fudge things a bit though. His first fight back after his car wreck was against Luis Santana not Roberto Duran but that's Hollywood for ya.

[Monty]

IT - 5/10

 

Alright, so there are good and bad things about this film.

 

The Good

 

Girl who plays Beverly was written and acted well; both as a character, but also her story and "fear" as well. Out off all the fears the children had, hers was the most real fear. One that wasn't imaginary. That said there was one other character who had a real fear, but I'll get into him in "The Bad" section. But further to this, her character was very well acted, very real performance, and her father was truly awful.

 

The fat kid. His fear was forgettable and pretty stupid. That said, fears that kids have are generally pretty childish, so his was "fine". However, he was written alright. Not great, just alright. The NKOTB obsession was painfully shoehorned in and was a "Hey, remember the 80s?" recurring gag. It was lazy. That said, his character was acted well and, being the "smart kid", also brought in useful info to the movie that seemed believable as to why he, out of everyone in the group, would know that stuff.

 

Pennywise and "the fears". All in all, it was portrayed well. Focusing more on the children's fears and not the clown was really what the book is more about. At the end of the day, the kids are scared of their fears, not a clown. So them being tormented by fears is what brings Pennywise out. And while I didn't find him scary, at all, the portrayal was also good. Not great, just good. 

 

That said, the filming was very good, especially in regards to when Pennywise was on screen. As a personification of evil/fear, the way he was shot in comparison to the rest of the film around him was well done. The style used in filming him (style) was much different than the rest of the film, which works when you know that Pennywise is an inter dimensional "thing" that personifies evil. 

 

I knew going in the dialogue was going to be heavily 80s inspired with the kids cursing like kids in the 80s (meaning films from the 80s) did, and that was done accurately. Plus, teenage boys are very dirty to begin with, so the dialogue was also pretty accurate.

 

The Bad

 

Oh boy, so everything else.

 

It was far too long. They spent a whole lot of time on building up each child's fears. The problem was they were expertly done with some (girl), well done with others (black kid), and then awful with the rest. One kid had no fear shown until it was just told to the viewer what it was, and you go "Oh, well that's f***ing lazy writing."

 

A few of the kids were utterly useless and not touched on at all, even though there was buildup on Pennywise with them and their subsequent fears. But once they were given valuable screen time building this up, they never touched on those kids again, two in particular.

 

But with this, the worst was the black kid. And it was really too bad because his fear was actually sad/horrifying, he acted quite well, and seemed to have the most interesting backstory. But the writers just totally dropped the ball after terrific buildup. It's like the first and second act for his character were phenomenal. But when it came time for the third act of his character arc, the writers just said, "Ah f*** him! Let's just get back to the clown! That's what people want to see, anyway." Really too bad, as they really introduced his character well and then his subsequent fear.

 

There was a rock throwing scene which was also painful. Really, really painful.

 

And, while not the worst thing in the film, the jump scares with the predictable music/shrieks that lead into them make the scenes:

 

1. Predictable

2. Not tense or scary at all

3. Will date the film

 

I immediately when watching those scenes would think, "How would this scene have played without it? Just silence?" Ultimately, it would have been far better without them. The jump scares will also date the film in the next 10 years, when that won't (hopefully) be relied on anymore.

 

It's a passable film, but not without its many, many flaws.

[Guest]

Alien Resurrection - 6/10 

 

I liked it more than Alien 3, even though it's probably a worse movie.

[D-Money]

21 hours ago, Monty said:

IT - 5/10

 

Alright, so there are good and bad things about this film.

 

The Good

 

Girl who plays Beverly was written and acted well; both as a character, but also her story and "fear" as well. Out off all the fears the children had, hers was the most real fear. One that wasn't imaginary. That said there was one other character who had a real fear, but I'll get into him in "The Bad" section. But further to this, her character was very well acted, very real performance, and her father was truly awful.

 

The fat kid. His fear was forgettable and pretty stupid. That said, fears that kids have are generally pretty childish, so his was "fine". However, he was written alright. Not great, just alright. The NKOTB obsession was painfully shoehorned in and was a "Hey, remember the 80s?" recurring gag. It was lazy. That said, his character was acted well and, being the "smart kid", also brought in useful info to the movie that seemed believable as to why he, out of everyone in the group, would know that stuff.

 

Pennywise and "the fears". All in all, it was portrayed well. Focusing more on the children's fears and not the clown was really what the book is more about. At the end of the day, the kids are scared of their fears, not a clown. So them being tormented by fears is what brings Pennywise out. And while I didn't find him scary, at all, the portrayal was also good. Not great, just good. 

 

That said, the filming was very good, especially in regards to when Pennywise was on screen. As a personification of evil/fear, the way he was shot in comparison to the rest of the film around him was well done. The style used in filming him (style) was much different than the rest of the film, which works when you know that Pennywise is an inter dimensional "thing" that personifies evil. 

 

I knew going in the dialogue was going to be heavily 80s inspired with the kids cursing like kids in the 80s (meaning films from the 80s) did, and that was done accurately. Plus, teenage boys are very dirty to begin with, so the dialogue was also pretty accurate.

 

The Bad

 

Oh boy, so everything else.

 

It was far too long. They spent a whole lot of time on building up each child's fears. The problem was they were expertly done with some (girl), well done with others (black kid), and then awful with the rest. One kid had no fear shown until it was just told to the viewer what it was, and you go "Oh, well that's f***ing lazy writing."

 

A few of the kids were utterly useless and not touched on at all, even though there was buildup on Pennywise with them and their subsequent fears. But once they were given valuable screen time building this up, they never touched on those kids again, two in particular.

 

But with this, the worst was the black kid. And it was really too bad because his fear was actually sad/horrifying, he acted quite well, and seemed to have the most interesting backstory. But the writers just totally dropped the ball after terrific buildup. It's like the first and second act for his character were phenomenal. But when it came time for the third act of his character arc, the writers just said, "Ah f*** him! Let's just get back to the clown! That's what people want to see, anyway." Really too bad, as they really introduced his character well and then his subsequent fear.

 

There was a rock throwing scene which was also painful. Really, really painful.

 

And, while not the worst thing in the film, the jump scares with the predictable music/shrieks that lead into them make the scenes:

 

1. Predictable

2. Not tense or scary at all

3. Dates

 

I immediately when watching those scenes would think, "How would this scene have played without it? Just silence?" Ultimately, it would have been far better without them. The jump scares will also date the film in the next 10 years, when that won't (hopefully) be relied on anymore.

 

It's a passable film, but not without its many, many flaws.

[Monty]

Veep - Season 1-6

 

Watched all of them in about 1 week. Fantastic. More cursing then I expected, a lot more. But Louis Dreyfus is terrific in it, as is the always reliable Toby Hale (Buster Bluth). In fact, the entire ensemble is incredibly solid in it.

 

The one character who gets better as the series progresses is Jonah Ryan. From incompetent White House intern to Congressman, he's absolutely phenomenal.

 

While all are great episodes, the "showdown" between Louis Dreyfus and Toby Hale in season 3 episode 3 is remarkable. If someone were to walk into that scene and not known anything about the show to begin with, you'd think you were watching an award winning drama. Great, great scene.

 

----------------------

 

Gerald's Game - 4.5/10

 

New Netflix film based on the Stephen King novel. To be honest, the 4.5 is actually a good grade. It was enjoyable and probably one of the better King film adaptations. Although, not better than The Mist, The Shining, Misery, 1408, or even the latest version of IT (which still has its terrific moments).

 

Worth watching? I mean, it's on Netflix, and you could do a lot worse. The last 15 minutes, one moment in particular is tough to watch, but it was very well acted.

[Down by the River]

11 minutes ago, Monty said:

Veep - Season 1-6

 

Watched all of them in about 1 week. Fantastic. More cursing then I expected, a lot more. But Louis Dreyfus is terrific in it, as is the always reliable Toby Hale (Buster Bluth). In fact, the entire ensemble is incredibly solid in it.

 

The one character who gets better as the series progresses is Jonah Ryan. From incompetent White House intern to Congressman, he's absolutely phenomenal.

 

While all are great episodes, the "showdown" between Louis Dreyfus and Toby Hale in season 3 episode 3 is remarkable. If someone were to walk into that scene and not known anything about the show to begin with, you'd think you were watching an award winning drama. Great, great scene.

 

Veep is such a great show to re-watch. The characters talk over each other a lot and so sometimes you miss things. Character reactions to other characters' lines is also often missed, at least by me. Veep is basically the writing that Aaron Sorkin wants to do, but cannot. 

[Monty]

5 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

Veep is such a great show to re-watch. The characters talk over each other a lot and so sometimes you miss things. Character reactions to other characters' lines is also often missed, at least by me. Veep is basically the writing that Aaron Sorkin wants to do, but cannot. 

Really don't remember the last comedy I watched that was this consistent. I'm rewatching The Office again, but even before I get to the years without Steve Carrell, I know it loses steam soon.

 

Veep is really phenomenal. And you're right, so much talking over each other that lines go completely missed by the viewer.