Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Entourage - What was I thinking?/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Batman Begins - 10/10 Obviously biased because I'm a huge Batman fan. To me, it's a perfect 10 as I really don't think there is a better superhero film (perhaps The Incredibles is the only other one on par to it). As much as I like TDK, it's not as strong overall as Begins. Everyone has to shoulder the weight in this film, and they do a superb job. In TDK, Ledger propped up the weaker areas (ie. Gyllenhaal). Far and away my favourite of the Batman movies. All too often it seems like the Batman movies rely on the villains to carry the movie. This movie did a great job making it all about Batman/Wayne. And I love the internal conflict highlighted for Wayne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Far and away my favourite of the Batman movies. All too often it seems like the Batman movies rely on the villains to carry the movie. This movie did a great job making it all about Batman/Wayne. And I love the internal conflict highlighted for Wayne. Absolutely. Again, as a huge Batman fan, I also understand that one of the main reasons why the character's universe is so interesting is because the villains are far and away the most interesting when compared to other superhero universes. And Batman/Bruce Wayne, as a character, is generally pretty uninteresting, in large part due to the villains. However, Batman Begins did such a phenomenal job in not only his origin, which was glossed over in previous installments, but also in the character development of the supporting characters. And I might be the only person who prefers Katie Holmes' "Rachel Dawes" to Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal. Again, I love The Dark Knight, but as great as the movie was, there were a few flaws (not many) that, to me, makes it score lower than the first. And mainly it's the casting choice of Gyllenhaal. While I 100% understand why they recast Holmes, Gyllenhaal was not the best choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Again, I love The Dark Knight, but as great as the movie was, there were a few flaws (not many) that, to me, makes it score lower than the first. And mainly it's the casting choice of Gyllenhaal. While I 100% understand why they recast Holmes, Gyllenhaal was not the best choice. They really needed a more attractive actress than MG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) They really needed a more attractive actress than MG. Absolutely hate to agree with this, but I'm going to power through it anyway. I would be lying if I said this wasn't part of the issue with her casting. I personally find MG to be attractive, but for Bruce Wayne, the guy either dates supermodels (as a cover I know), or the women he has relationships with in the comics/movies/etc (Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Vicki Vale, etc) have always been portrayed by the stereotypical "more attractive" female. Now, whether or not this is "right" or not is a whole other argument. I really like MG, and strongly believe she got snubbed for an Emmy this year for Best Actress in a Miniseries for her role in The Honourable Woman. She was terrific. Maybe I would have felt differently had her character been better written in TDK. Rachel Dawes did have an even larger role in the second film; and by and large, her lines were fairly weak. More importantly, there was zero chemistry between her and Bale. I attribute this 100% to the writing and not the acting, because I've seen both of them have no problem with chemsitry in other roles they've been in with other actors. Perhaps the problem is less with Gyllenhaal/Holmes and more with how poorly flushed out her role was. Because MG is a far superior actress than Holmes, it's entirely possible Holmes would have had an even more difficult time with the role in the second film than Gyllenhaal had. Again, I love TDK, and find it to be in the top 3-5 best superhero films. But where Batman Begins' strength was, surprisingly held together by Christian Bale and Michael Caine, with the rest of the cast holding fort terrifically, TDK was held together by Heath Ledger and Gary Oldman, with the rest of the cast just sort of "there". Edited September 22, 2015 by Monty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) Batman Begins and TDK were both great films. I found the latter too heavy-handed at times though, particularly in how it continually tried to invoke the morality of the citizens of Gotham. (This was taken to another stratosphere though in TDKR.) However, Ledger's Joker is one of the best acting performances I've ever seen, and brings it back up to par. So...flip a coin? ...Not when you can... Quite possibly my favourite action stunt of all time. Dark Knight wins! Edited September 22, 2015 by D-Money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Absolutely. Again, as a huge Batman fan, I also understand that one of the main reasons why the character's universe is so interesting is because the villains are far and away the most interesting when compared to other superhero universes. And Batman/Bruce Wayne, as a character, is generally pretty uninteresting, in large part due to the villains. However, Batman Begins did such a phenomenal job in not only his origin, which was glossed over in previous installments, but also in the character development of the supporting characters. And I might be the only person who prefers Katie Holmes' "Rachel Dawes" to Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal. Again, I love The Dark Knight, but as great as the movie was, there were a few flaws (not many) that, to me, makes it score lower than the first. And mainly it's the casting choice of Gyllenhaal. While I 100% understand why they recast Holmes, Gyllenhaal was not the best choice. I agree.. Holmes is hot, and Maggie has like manboobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Absolutely hate to agree with this, but I'm going to power through it anyway. I would be lying if I said this wasn't part of the issue with her casting. I personally find MG to be attractive, but for Bruce Wayne, the guy either dates supermodels (as a cover I know), or the women he has relationships with in the comics/movies/etc (Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Vicki Vale, etc) have always been portrayed by the stereotypical "more attractive" female. Now, whether or not this is "right" or not is a whole other argument. I really like MG, and strongly believe she got snubbed for an Emmy this year for Best Actress in a Miniseries for her role in The Honourable Woman. She was terrific. Maybe I would have felt differently had her character been better written in TDK. Rachel Dawes did have an even larger role in the second film; and by and large, her lines were fairly weak. More importantly, there was zero chemistry between her and Bale. I attribute this 100% to the writing and not the acting, because I've seen both of them have no problem with chemsitry in other roles they've been in with other actors. Perhaps the problem is less with Gyllenhaal/Holmes and more with how poorly flushed out her role was. Because MG is a far superior actress than Holmes, it's entirely possible Holmes would have had an even more difficult time with the role in the second film than Gyllenhaal had. Again, I love TDK, and find it to be in the top 3-5 best superhero films. But where Batman Begins' strength was, surprisingly held together by Christian Bale and Michael Caine, with the rest of the cast holding fort terrifically, TDK was held together by Heath Ledger and Gary Oldman, with the rest of the cast just sort of "there". I agree with all of this, and have no love for Katie Holmes...however, she seemed to have good chemistry with Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking. And there was at least a bit of a spark between her and Bale in Begins. So I think Holmes probably would have been better - unless Xenu had completely devoured her soul by that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I found the latter too heavy-handed at times though, particularly in how it continually tried to invoke the morality of the citizens of Gotham. (This was taken to another stratosphere though in TDKR.) Oh boy, how much I can get into my absolute hatred towards TDKR. It's painful to admit just how much I despise that film. But I will say, for how brutal the "morality of the citizens of Gotham" was executed in TDKR, I have zero problem with this as a theme throughout Nolan's films. Reason being is that this was all setup from the very beginning, as it was Ra's Al Ghul's plan to bring down Gotham, as it was not a city worth saving, as the citizens and city as a whole were corrupt and immoral. Bruce Wayne (or Nolan for that matter), wrote a story that was centered around one man who believed that, as corrupt as the city was, the people were worth saving; they just needed something to believe in. Now again, the execution in the third film was downright stupid (ie. throw every cop into the sewers, every cop charging towards tanks and machine guns with nothing but their fists). "Hey, we haven't been protecting the city for months now, so I guess we also forgot basic strategy." I didn't mind how Nolan handled it in TDK, as it was only a little bit at the end. It was just too bad that he botched so, so much in the final film. Like I said, it's painful for me to admit just how terrible that film is, but I also love that I can go on forever about it, as it is such a boner of a film. Almost a solid 0/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Oh boy, how much I can get into my absolute hatred towards TDKR. It's painful to admit just how much I despise that film. But I will say, for how brutal the "morality of the citizens of Gotham" was executed in TDKR, I have zero problem with this as a theme throughout Nolan's films. Reason being is that this was all setup from the very beginning, as it was Ra's Al Ghul's plan to bring down Gotham, as it was not a city worth saving, as the citizens and city as a whole were corrupt and immoral. Bruce Wayne (or Nolan for that matter), wrote a story that was centered around one man who believed that, as corrupt as the city was, the people were worth saving; they just needed something to believe in. Now again, the execution in the third film was downright stupid (ie. throw every cop into the sewers, every cop charging towards tanks and machine guns with nothing but their fists). "Hey, we haven't been protecting the city for months now, so I guess we also forgot basic strategy." I didn't mind how Nolan handled it in TDK, as it was only a little bit at the end. It was just too bad that he botched so, so much in the final film. Like I said, it's painful for me to admit just how terrible that film is, but I also love that I can go on forever about it, as it is such a boner of a film. Almost a solid 0/10. That every-cop-in-the-sewers thing was pretty universally panned.. I liked the parody on this: (around one minute) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down by the River Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Everything about Gyllenhal in TDK was flat. Its tough to go down the road Monty went without having some 'PC-bro!' talking about the gender double-standard in Hollywood, but he's right. If Bruce Wayne is going to try and woo someone that is not 10/10, she better be extremely interesting/smart/unique in some way. None of that came across with MG's portrayal of Dawes. I also hated how she would say 'Bruce'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 That every-cop-in-the-sewers thing was pretty universally panned.. I liked the parody on this: (around one minute) Can't view it while I'm at work, but I'll get to it later. I just have so many problems with the film. While it's difficult for me to decide which one is the worst of them all, my most hated beef is that of his 8 year hiatus from "Batmaning it up". All because some girl he NEVER SLEPT WITH died. Why do I have an issue with this? This is a guy who's parents died and he became Batman because of it. A guy who, in the comics, went on a Archer sized rampage after Joker virtually beats Jason Todd to death with a plumbers wrench and then dies shortly thereafter in an explosion. This isn't even a plot hole, which can sometimes be overlooked when a movie has everything else going for it. However, with the amount of plotholes the film ultimately has (I won't get into them in this post), this turn in character for Bruce Wayne is an utter embarressment when you look at the history of who he is. Very, very weak and an all around smear of poop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 but, but, Anne Hathaway in tight clothing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 me and earl and the dying girl: 4/10 a whole bunch of references that lead nowhere and reveal nothing (did you catch that Lou Reed in-joke? did you recognize that Brian Eno song? Have you seen The 400 Blows? ok, cool.) mixed in with a paint-by-numbers story about cancer. It's sad, don't get me wrong - but considering how hard this filmmaker and writers and crew try to align the movie and its characters with outsider culture, this is about as tame and toothless as a movie can be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Tomorrowland - 8/10 Same review as most people. Great message and not your usual run of the mill blockbuster. Unfortunately, people don't care enough about a good message and would rather see monster trucks fight each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Monty Python and the Holy Grail - 10/10 Haven't watched it in about 9 years or so. Still amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Straight Outta Compton - 4/10 Started out ok, then got boring after 20 minutes. Picked up an hour and a bit in for a solid 30 minutes or so, but then it just kept going. The last 30 minutes may as well been cut from the film, as it added nothing of importance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Olive Kitteridge - 10/10 decided to check out HBO's 4 part miniseries that recently cleaned up at the Emmys, and I'm glad I did. this is an absolute masterwork in terms of acting and writing - just flawless performances up and down. certainly won't be for everyone, given how it's a high drama and a pretty bleak look at growing old, marriage, death, etc. but yeah. frances mcdormand is wonderful. richard jenkins, too. and bill murray's small role was touching and hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Philomena - 7/10 Really enjoyable, but terribly heartbreaking. Slightly over an hour and a half long and flies by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Philomena - 7/10 Really enjoyable, but terribly heartbreaking. Slightly over an hour and a half long and flies by. I don't remember much about it now, but I really enjoyed that when I saw it anyway, ughhh, there's nothing to watch. anyone have any good horror/scary recs? Preferably stuff that goes beyond the usual classics but does not suck entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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