Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Ish]

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Do I really need to summarize this one? It’s WWII on the eve of D-Day and the U.S. Army tasks Lee Marvin with leading a squad of Expendable Basterds on a suicidal mission to kill Nazis. Needless to say, it’s terribly unrealistic and the anti-hero protagonists commit a couple dozen war crimes... But, hey, this is just an action movie, not a history lesson.

This movie pretty much created the “ragtag commandos” sub genre: Kelly’s Heroes, Where Eagles Dare, The A-Team, The Expendables, Delta Force, Inglorious Basterds, Suicide Squad, and too many Seventies and Eighties B-Movies to name pretty much exist only because of The Dirty Dozen.  

And, of course, Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers from Warhammer 40,000.

“Donald Duck's down at the crossroads with a machine gun.”

[WestRider]

^^^I've read the book, but never got around to seeing the movie. I'll have to hunt up a copy one of these days.

2036 Origin Unknown: Not nearly as profound as it thinks it is, and it's yet another flick that mis-represents the dangers of power-hungry humans as being inherent dangers of science/technology/exploration. Even Katee Sackhoff couldn't save it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: I heard a lot of people trashing it back when it first came out, so never bothered until now. I actually found it to be pretty fun. I was particularly surprised by how much I liked Shia LaBeouf's performance. Best part of the flick was Cate Blanchett's cheekbones, tho.

[WestRider]

Ocean's 8: Could have been gayer, but still a damn good heist flick.

A few more recent random flicks with something of note:

• The Invisible Man: The original one, from the 30s. Very good for something of that vintage. There are a few parts that are a little shaky, and/or have aged badly, but most of it holds up quite well, and the special effects are very impressive considering the time.
• Ghost Ship: Roger Ebert called it "better than you expect but not as good as you hope," which is sufficiently apt that I felt I should just quote it here.
• The Black Waters of Echo's Pond: Pretty much completely incoherent, but the Satyr/daemon thing that drives all the action looks like a Verminlord, except more or less human-sized, which was kind of cool.
• I Know What You Did Last Summer: Better than I expected. It always felt overshadowed by Scream, but the two aren't really comparable. Scream was a deconstruction of slasher flicks, while IKWYDLS was an entirely non-ironic attempt at rejuvenating the genre.

[shmitty]

Had a sick day recently and re-watched a couple of shows:

• Avengers: Infinity War - My biggest take away is that I still can't believe that this movie got made.  Seriously, the logistics of having all of those characters in one place is still pretty staggering.
• The Last Jedi - Still really liked it.  Liked the character arcs and felt like it may be the best acted Star Wars movie.  (Mark Hamill does an amazing job)

[Ish]

Mark Hamill has been criminally under-used as an actor over the years. The man’s amazing, but it seems like Bruce Timm and Paul Dini were the only ones that recognized it.

[Munkie]

13 hours ago, WestRider said:

I Know What You Did Last Summer: Better than I expected. It always felt overshadowed by Scream, but the two aren't really comparable. Scream was a deconstruction of slasher flicks, while IKWYDLS was an entirely non-ironic attempt at rejuvenating the genre.

Well except that Scream was the movie that rejuvenated the genre while deconstructing it. IKWYDLS was one of many, many trendy teen slashers that had nothing more to add but saw the money making potential in it.

[WestRider]

1 hour ago, Munkie said:

Well except that Scream was the movie that rejuvenated the genre while deconstructing it. IKWYDLS was one of many, many trendy teen slashers that had nothing more to add but saw the money making potential in it.

Yes and no. The relationships between the two are pretty interesting. IKWYDLS was actually written several years before Scream, and by the same screenwriter. But he couldn't find a studio that would make it until after the success of Scream. And there was never any intention for IKWYDLS to have anything to add. It was always just supposed to be a classic slasher flick, played entirely straight. An homage, rather than the deconstruction of Scream.

[Ish]

There will never not be a market for films about horrible things happening to sexy “teenagers” played by 27 year olds.

[WestRider]

4 minutes ago, Ish said:

There will never not be a market for films about horrible things happening to sexy “teenagers” played by 27 year olds.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was actually 18 when that was filmed, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was only 20. Certainly much closer than SMG getting cast as 15 year old Buffy Summers at roughly the same time.

[Ish]

I was making a broadly dismissive statement of derision against the entire genre. I’m sure there are probably good slasher flicks, in theory, but it’s undeniable that there are a lot more of the cruddy ones.

[WestRider]

11 hours ago, Ish said:

I was making a broadly dismissive statement of derision against the entire genre. I’m sure there are probably good slasher flicks, in theory, but it’s undeniable that there are a lot more of the cruddy ones.

Can't argue there. IKWYDLS is, while not the best, certainly well above the bulk of them. Anyhow

It! The Terror from Beyond Space: Somewhat disappointing. Not so much in quality, that was about where I expected, but the title had me expecting some sort of formless cosmic horror, not just a Martian. The design of the spaceship was hilariously unrealistic and inefficient as expected. They even brought a stewardess along, and they were all smoking on the ship.

The Avengers: No, not the those Avengers, the other ones. Steed and Peel, the flick from '98. That was pretty bad. I'm not sure I would go so far as to put it in a list of all time worst movies, but it was bad. That said, if you really want to see Uma Thurman fight a teddy bear, there aren't a whole lot of other options that I'm aware of. Also, they did make excellent use of the one swear allowed without breaking the PG-13 limit.

Edit, one more: X The Unknown: That was more like it. A semi-sequel to The Quatermass Experiment. Weird creepy monster, nice suspense, plenty of 50s bs technobabble, ridiculously extra soundtrack, all that sort of thing. Also, it's set and filmed near Glasgow, so some of the characters have really cool accents, too.

[Romans832]

Kin - 6/10 - Really disappointed with it... had low/medium hopes and it sure didn't meet them.

[Romans832]

Super excited for John Wick 3 - https://www.imdb.com/list/ls053181649/videoplayer/vi3978017305?ref_=vp_pl_0

[WestRider]

The Removed, aka After Effect, aka The Infected, aka Patient Z: The Infected, aka Just Pick a Name and Stick With It: Pretty good horror flick. Follows a couple of college students and the people they meet when they sign up for a medical experiment that pays $1000 for a couple of days. Things progress pretty quickly from odd to unsettling to downright creepy, and then to 28 Days Later-style "zombies". I feel like it maybe could have used a little more build-up time, and maybe a couple more characters basically just to add some more chaos and confusion to the chunks where everyone's trying to figure out what's happening.

Shadow of the Missing: Another for the "cool concept, poor execution" pile. Documentary-style found footage horror film, with the found footage interspersed with interview clips with friends of the people who shot the footage and segments of a local priest and historian (the action takes place in an old abandoned church) providing commentary and attempted explanations. Like I said, I think  the idea and the basic structure have potential, but the pacing is just way off here, with no real tension building up, and none of the characters are engaging enough to keep it going.

[Ish]

Paths of Glory one of Stanley Kubrick’s earliest films (and in my opinion, one of his best). Kirk Douglas delivers an amazing performance.

There aren’t very many films about WWI and even fewer where the focus is on the French, with nary an American doughboy in sight. 

Highly recommended.

[WestRider]

Just re-watched Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I hadn't realized that was Jason Statham's first film role. I knew it was the first time I'd seen him, but there's plenty I miss. Great flick, nice mix of a comedy of errors with a some ultra-violence.

Wrong Turn: Mostly a by-the-numbers slasher flick, but I liked that Chris and Jessie were actually pretty competent and with-it, as well as the usual assortment of scrubs who can't cope and oblivious stoners.

Daphne and Velma: I'm not going to tell you that this is a good movie. At best, I can say that it's decent within the category of Scooby Doo material. That said, I am pretty much the perfect audience for it, and I really loved it.

[Ish]

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse

It is very rare for me to say this, but... Believe. The. Hype. 

A truly great adaptation of the source material without overly burdensome continuity snarls from the comics (but still perfectly enjoyable by a nerd like me that knows the convoluted comic continuity). A heavily stylized art style that manages to strike the right balance between artsy and watchable. Great performances, excellent action (without skimping on quite moments and dramatic scenes). Genuinely funny jokes.

If you have the chance, this is definitely one that should be watched in a theater.

[WestRider]

Aswang: This is not a very good movie. For most people, I doubt it will be very effective. But there were a few bits that matched up so well with some stories that a Filipina friend of mine told me about weird creepy stuff that's happened to her and members of her family that it still really got to me.

[Ish]

Clue

I’m always shocked that this movie isn’t more well known. It’s one of my favorite comedies of all time, every time I watch it I laugh just as hard as I did the first time.

[WestRider]

The Thing (2011): A project like this one is very difficult to pull off well. It's easy to just end up being a watered-down knockoff with better special effects, change into something else entirely, or just flat-out fail. I feel like they managed to walk that line pretty well and end up with something that adds to the original story without replacing it. YMMV. I did really like some of the discussion about making it that I found, talking about going over the original film, figuring out exactly what things about the base needed to be like, and then working to come up with a story that would result in all those details being left in its aftermath. And the updated effects for The Thing itself are pretty cool.

The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund: Very possibly the worst exorcism movie I've ever seen. None of the actors manage to sell any of it. At all. And that's not even getting into the problems with the script. As arguably the most egregious bit, at one point a Catholic nun asks one of the priests what language Ecklund is speaking. It's Latin. What kind of nun doesn't recognize Latin?

The Grudge 3: In some ways my favourite of the three, but largely just because it's the only one with a linear narrative, so I didn't have to look it up on Wikipedia to figure out what was going on. It was also (at least among the copies I've seen) the only one of the three that had subtitles for the parts in Japanese. The subtitles were in German, but I studied German much more recently than Japanese, and actually spent time in Germany, so I'm much better at it, and was actually able to follow along. Which was pretty cool.

[WestRider]

Happy Feet: Nice fun piece. Cute penguins, good tunes, good cast, just generally fun. I hadn't realized it was done by George Miller, which is kind of hilarious.

Python: Pretty much a B-movie all star cast. Billy Zabka, Wil Wheaton, Robert Englund, Casper Van Dien, even Frank Welker voicing the snake. Speaking of which, surprisingly good visual effects on that snake. I was expecting something more like the ones in Piranhaconda or Sharktopus vs Pteracuda, but this was pretty not bad. It's a SyFy original, so you know there ain't much plot or anything, but as those go, it's one of the better ones by a pretty big margin.

[WestRider]

Flight 666: Surprisingly good for a direct-to-video flick. "Horror" isn't quite the right description, tho it has horror elements, some of them strong enough that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who dislikes horror movies. The overall feel is more of a suspense/thriller/mystery sort of thing. Has a lot in common with disaster movies, too. I really liked the interactions among the passengers and cabin crew. Felt very plausible for a tense situation like that. People freaking out, especially as more and more goes wrong, and others trying to calm them down, with varying degrees of success, but always in ways that felt like something that you might actually hear on a bad flight. And just how grounded in reality so much of interactions are makes the difference all the more striking when the supernatural elements start coming in.

[WestRider]

Kingsman: The Secret Service: There are a lot of good bits, but overall, it felt too self-aware, and like it was trying too hard. And a bit too much "loser who never made anything of himself" wish-fulfillment fantasy for my taste.

Fall of Grace: You know how Rob Zombie likes to start albums out with a mish-mash of static and samples and creepy noises and stuff? This is basically an entire movie of that.

Frenzy: Despite the title, this is actually a really slow burn flick. At the start, I was really uncertain of whether it was even worth going on, especially since the first few flashbacks are kind of distracting until you get used to them. But it builds into probably the best Shark movie I've ever seen. By the end, it gets very intense. Recommended if you're into that sort of thing.

[Ish]

Aquaman (2019) might just be the best film in the “DCEU” to date or at least tied with Wonder Woman for that slot. I’ve always loved Jason Momoa, ever since Stargate: Atlantis where he was basically the only person worth watching for several seasons. It took the rest of the industry too long to notice him, but he’s great here. The movie’s plot is a rather by-the-numbers superhero fare, with its high point being the all too brief second act that sees Arthur and Mera on a fetch-quest that plays out like an homage to Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone type flicks. The rest of the film is very much taking its cues from the hyperkinetic synth-pop technicolor kaleidoscope that was Thor: Ragnarok.

On it’s own merits, a solid 3 out of 5. Grading on a curve and judged solely against the other “DCEU” movies, a definite A+.

[Ish]

Mary Poppins Returns

Did you like the original Mary Poppins? Of course you did, everyone does.

Do you want to see a sequel that isn’t a soulless cash-grab but is actually a lovely homage to the original that is simultaneously a movie with a heart and soul of its own? 

Emily Blunt is outstanding, playing Mary with just enough subtle nods to Julie Andrews’ performance but while also making the role her own; Lin Manuel Miranda's Jack is fun; the Banks children are adorable... and the cameos are hilarious if you’re in on the joke, but still work even for the little kids that won’t get it.

The songs are great throughout.

4.5 out of 5. Practically perfect in every way.