Rate The Last Movie You Saw - 2

[Down by the River]

Can't remember if I reviewed Joy or not. Anyway, the interactions between Lawrence, Cooper, and Deniro felt too much like they were trying to bring back the banter from Silver Linings Playbook. Worth a one-time watch.

Room: 6.5/10. My girlfriend read the book and wanted to turn the movie off. Emotion just fell flat, but I did like that the emphasis of the story was on life after escape. 

Edited December 31, 2015 by Down by the River

[Monty]

Sicario

I was so tired yesterday that I couldn't keep watching it. I'll try again, but certainly won't make my top 5 list. Very interesting, though.

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

Spotlight - 7/10

While this story hasn't been told before (in film), I felt like I've seen "this" reporter film every 10 years or so. Again, not the same story or the same topic, but just not something that I came away from saying, "What a terrific film". It was very well done, the acting was just "ok",  and the script was also just "ok". Worth a watch, but nothing I would come back to, and not a film I will think much about afterwards. It actually seems like a film that, in 5 years, someone will ask if I've seen it and I'll say, "Yes, but I don't remember much about it."

Edited January 1, 2016 by Monty

[GLASSJAW]

anyone watch the Charlie Rose interview with George Lucas? it's been making some headlines:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/movies/george-lucas-criticizes-latest-star-wars-installment.html?_r=0

I gave it a watch the other day and felt kinda uncomfortable a few times. him discussing the sale of Star Wars and Lucasarts to Disney using slave language is weird given how he has a black wife and championed "black movies" a few years back. you'd think he'd be more sensitive, lol

but as a movie fan, i find it obnoxious how throughout the interview he harps on and on and on about his "artistic" ambition to return to his film school roots and make "tone poems" and "visual collages" and abstract stuff without the hollywood narrative. he essentially said that he made American Graffiti "because he could" or because he was challenged to, not because he wanted to. his heart, he says, was really in abstraction and "visual collages and tone poems" - the art form he's now going to return to.

for those of you who were Star Wars nerds growing up like i was, you'll probably remember George Lucas saying this exact same thing in almost every interview he gave for the last 25 years. he's a billionaire who pretends to champion "art" but instead just talks about championing it.

he talks about valuing story, about valuing character, and about how technology shouldn't interfere with good story telling, but he says this seemingly ignoring the fact he was responsible for the Star Wars prequels! he gives some seriously mixed messages about story vs. technology, and seems really confused about how to be progressive. he's definitely an intelligent guy, he just seems straight up delusional and that just compounds his arrogance

I almost feel sorry for the guy. It's like he sees his reputation is tarnished, but instead of recognizing where he went wrong, he's doubling down on his work and implying that everyone else is wrong.

 

Edited January 1, 2016 by GLASSJAW

[GLASSJAW]

god, here's an article from 2012(!) which collects some of his "tone poem" and "experimental film" fantasies: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/01/18/george-lucas-wants-to-retire-and-make-art-films-sure-he-does/

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds this tic of his sorta strange.

[Down by the River]

6 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

anyone watch the Charlie Rose interview with George Lucas? it's been making some headlines:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/movies/george-lucas-criticizes-latest-star-wars-installment.html?_r=0

I gave it a watch the other day and felt kinda uncomfortable a few times. him discussing the sale of Star Wars and Lucasarts to Disney using slave language is weird given how he has a black wife and championed "black movies" a few years back. you'd think he'd be more sensitive, lol

but as a movie fan, i find it obnoxious how throughout the interview he harps on and on and on about his "artistic" ambition to return to his film school roots and make "tone poems" and "visual collages" and abstract stuff without the hollywood narrative. he essentially said that he made American Graffiti "because he could" or because he was challenged to, not because he wanted to. his heart, he says, was really in abstraction and "visual collages and tone poems" - the art form he's now going to return to.

for those of you who were Star Wars nerds growing up like i was, you'll probably remember George Lucas saying this exact same thing in almost every interview he gave for the last 25 years. he's a billionaire who pretends to champion "art" but instead just talks about championing it.

he talks about valuing story, about valuing character, and about how technology shouldn't interfere with good story telling, but he says this seemingly ignoring the fact he was responsible for the Star Wars prequels! he gives some seriously mixed messages about story vs. technology, and seems really confused about how to be progressive. he's definitely an intelligent guy, he just seems straight up delusional and that just compounds his arrogance

I almost feel sorry for the guy. It's like he sees his reputation is tarnished, but instead of recognizing where he went wrong, he's doubling down on his work and implying that everyone else is wrong.

 

Sounds like Tarantino. 

Lucas' original trilogy was highly influenced by Joseph Campbell and his story archetypes. The idea that Lucas is a great storyteller is, IMO, inaccurate. Imaginative and creative but his story telling never struck me as impressive when you consider how much help he had. 

Lucas tried to do the second trilogy all on his own and faltered terribly. 

Edited January 1, 2016 by Down by the River

[lethunder]

Watched a bunch of movies over the last few days...

The Big Short 9/10
Dope 8/10
Creed 8/10
The Martian 7.5/10
The Revenant 7/10
Steve Jobs 7/10
The Hateful Eight 6/10
Legend 5/10
 

[Monty]

4 minutes ago, lethunder said:

Watched a bunch of movies over the last few days...

The Big Short 9/10
Dope 8/10
Creed 8/10
The Martian 7.5/10
The Revenant 7/10
Steve Jobs 7/10
The Hateful Eight 6/10
Legend 5/10
 

Agree with most of these, except Hateful Eight (far too high) and Creed (nothing new). Haven't seen dope or Big Short yet.

[lethunder]

2 minutes ago, Monty said:

Agree with most of these, except Hateful Eight (far too high) and Creed (nothing new). Haven't seen dope or Big Short yet.

Hateful Eight could be a little generous, it was the first one I watched on the list. I don't remember hating it which gives it a 5 at least and I thought it was a little more than "okay" thus a 6. As for Creed I agree it was nothing new, but I love Rocky and liked this reboot for the franchise.

[Monty]

Just now, lethunder said:

Hateful Eight could be a little generous, it was the first one I watched on the list. I don't remember hating it which gives it a 5 at least and I thought it was a little more than "okay" thus a 6. As for Creed I agree it was nothing new, but I love Rocky and liked this reboot for the franchise.

And that's probably the difference why I didn't like it. I've only seen the first 3 Rocky's, and they were never my cup of tea.

I will say that I support any reboot or remake if Nic Cage is in it. He's terrible now, but in a way that makes it worth watching.

[GLASSJAW]

in the heart of the sea: 6.5/10

i kinda secretly had very reserved hopes for this one. i thought Ron Howard's last movie with Chris Hemsworth, Rush, was brilliant. Anyway, I don't particularly care for Hemsworth, but I was still optimistic because of the supporting cast of Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy. On top of that, I love Hermann Melville, I love American and European history from the period this movie operates in. AND, even more than that, as a kid I loved whales(!) and still think of them as being pretty marvellous, majestic beings. 

Unfortunately I sorta think the movie was just decent, with enjoyable bits here and there. I loved the costume design, I loved the scene where they're digging out the oil. I loved seeing Gleeson performing a hammy old whaler. But the CGI was pretty weak, the action wasn't very tense, the dialogue was kinda cheesy, and I sorta just didn't care about many characters in the end. Still, I won't say I was bored or anything. Had this come out when I was 12 or 13, it would have been an instant favourite. I think I must have watched Free Willy at least 500 times. 

Anyway, it just reminded me also of the American Experience episode about the whaling trade. That was a 10/10 and brutally fascinating, if anyone's interested:

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2016 by GLASSJAW

[Svengali]

^ Hmm, I hadn't planned on watching Thor Versus Dick, but I'll watch anything with Brendan Gleeson in it. (didn't know he was in it until reading your post just now) He may be my current favourite actor along with Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgard ... that's like 400 years combined age.

___

The last doc I watched was Dogtown and Z-Boys. Felt rather full of itself but it doesn't matter, it was entertaining. Cool to see the beginnings of real skateboarding. I'd give it a 6.5

 

[GLASSJAW]

nah, Gleeson is only in it for like 30 minutes. he has that 'story telling' type role. don't watch it for him - and that would be one of my complaints again: put him in it more.

i didn't realize Hemsworth was Thor, but that makes so much sense. I knew he was a comic book movie guy, just not sure which one. the dude stands at least two feet taller and three feet wider than everyone else on screen, it's kinda ridiculous 

[riffraff]

7 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

in the heart of the sea: 6.5/10

i kinda secretly had very reserved hopes for this one. i thought Ron Howard's last movie with Chris Hemsworth, Rush, was brilliant. Anyway, I don't particularly care for Hemsworth, but I was still optimistic because of the supporting cast of Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy. On top of that, I love Hermann Melville, I love American and European history from the period this movie operates in. AND, even more than that, as a kid I loved whales(!) and still think of them as being pretty marvellous, majestic beings. 

Unfortunately I sorta think the movie was just decent, with enjoyable bits here and there. I loved the costume design, I loved the scene where they're digging out the oil. I loved seeing Gleeson performing a hammy old whaler. But the CGI was pretty weak, the action wasn't very tense, the dialogue was kinda cheesy, and I sorta just didn't care about many characters in the end. Still, I won't say I was bored or anything. Had this come out when I was 12 or 13, it would have been an instant favourite. I think I must have watched Free Willy at least 500 times. 

Anyway, it just reminded me also of the American Experience episode about the whaling trade. That was a 10/10 and brutally fascinating, if anyone's interested:

 

 

 

Thanks for the link.  I will be watching this in the future.

 

enjoy almost any nautical/marine related movie.

 

based on your review of in the heart of the sea, I will watch it still. Was planning on it anyhow.

 

watched Captain Phillips a couple nights ago.  I'll give it a 6.5/10.  Tom hanks seems to be fairly polarizing but I felt he delivered a good performance in this movie especially towards the end..  Of course he went full Tom Hanks in the final scenes.

 

it was entertaining escapism and I tend to lean towards movies based on true events.  Years ago I was part of a significant sailing trip and had heard of a couple captains In similar situations on private sailing yachts.

[Down by the River]

Disclaimer: The rating I gave a film may differ from the rating I gave on CDC of the same film. Movies in red font are movies I watched and rated. Movies in black font are movies I am still waiting to see or need to re-watch. Some movies were not released in 2015, they simply were movies I wanted to watch this year. 

According to my list below, so far, my top 5 movies of 2015 would be:

1. The Big Short
2. End of the Tour
3. Mad Max
4. Love & Mercy
5. Ex Machina

Still need to see or re-watch before I consider my list complete:

1. Carol
2. The Danish Girl
3. Spotlight
4. Trumbo
5. Sicario

Movies to watch in 2015

A most Violent Year: 8/10

Black Mass: 7/10

Bridge of Spies: 8/10

Burnt: 7.5/10

Carol

Coherence

Creed: 4/10

Dark Places

Defiance

Drinking Buddies

Ex Machina: 8.25/10

Filth

Fruitvale Station

Inglorious Basterds: 8.5/10

Inherent Vice

Ironman: 7.5/10

It Follows

J Edgar

Knight of Cups

Legend: Re-watch

Love & Mercy: 8.75/10

Mad Max: 9/10

Man of Steel: 7/10

Out of the Furnace

Room: 6.5/10

Self/less: 5/10

Short Term 12

Sicario

Silver Linings Playbook: 8.5/10

Southpaw: 3/10

Spectre: 5/10

Spotlight: Re-watch

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: 8.25/10

Steve Jobs: 7.5/10

Take Shelter

Taxi Driver

The Big Short: 9.5/10

The Danish Girl

The End of the Tour: 9.5/10

The Gift: 6.25/10

The Graduate

The Hateful Eight: 4/10

The Immigrant

The Last Walz

The Man from UNCLE

The Martian: 8/10

The Raid 2

The Revenant: 7.25/10

The Way Back

There will be Blood

Tree of Life

True Story: Re-watch

Trumbo

Woman in Gold

Zero Dark Thirty

Concussion

Joy: 7/10

The Walk: 6.25/10

Everest: 6/10

Pawn Sacrifice

Victor Frankenstein

No Escape: 5/10

Mission Impossible

Minions: 4.5/10

Pitch Perfect 2: 3.5/10

Edited January 1, 2016 by Down by the River

[GLASSJAW]

1 hour ago, Down by the River said:

 

Victor Frankenstein

 

oh dear

[Monty]

TOP 5 FILMS OF 2015

1. What We Do In The Shadows

2. The Revenant

3. Mad Max

4. Ex Machina

5. A Most Violent Year

 

Honestly thought I would give the nod to The Revenant. But for my personal list, What We Do In The Shadows was just so entertaining. Giving a comedy top honors for me seems like a cop out, but I will come back to that film and enjoy it far more in 20 years time than the others.

However, both The Revenant and Mad Max are films are films I will still watch over and over again, with Max getting much more viewings, as I love the franchise.

Funny how 4 of my films have two of my current fav actors today in Tom Hardy and Oscar Isaac. While Domhnall Gleeson is also quickly rising up the list for me as well.

[riffraff]

2 hours ago, Monty said:

TOP 5 FILMS OF 2015

1. What We Do In The Shadows

2. The Revenant

3. Mad Max

4. Ex Machina

5. A Most Violent Year

 

Honestly thought I would give the nod to The Revenant. But for my personal list, What We Do In The Shadows was just so entertaining. Giving a comedy top honors for me seems like a cop out, but I will come back to that film and enjoy it far more in 20 years time than the others.

However, both The Revenant and Mad Max are films are films I will still watch over and over again, with Max getting much more viewings, as I love the franchise.

Funny how 4 of my films have two of my current fav actors today in Tom Hardy and Oscar Isaac. While Domhnall Gleeson is also quickly rising up the list for me as well.

Ex Machina does seem quite interesting.  Almost watched it the other night.

 

what did you like about it?

[g_bassi13]

7 hours ago, Down by the River said:

The Big Short: 9.5/10

Joy: 7/10

I wanted to watch the Big Short tonight, but am essentially being forced into watching Joy. Not that I didn't want to watch Joy, just that The Big Short seems a little more special.

[Down by the River]

54 minutes ago, g_bassi13 said:

I wanted to watch the Big Short tonight, but am essentially being forced into watching Joy. Not that I didn't want to watch Joy, just that The Big Short seems a little more special.

The Big Short seems like this decades "The Insider", except I hope The Big Short doesn't go 0-7 at the Oscars. 

[Monty]

1 hour ago, g_bassi13 said:

I wanted to watch the Big Short tonight, but am essentially being forced into watching Joy. Not that I didn't want to watch Joy, just that The Big Short seems a little more special.

Too bad, because Joy looks horrible.