Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[WestRider]

Girl on the Third Floor: I was about to skip past this one, but then I noticed that the lead was played by CM Punk. Punk comes across more or less as the unholy love child of Bruce Campbell and Mitt Romney in this well-constructed haunted house flick. Think more AHS: Murder House than Amityville Horror. Some great, and seriously gross, practical effects really sell the impact. Also, a word of warning: the dog dies. I know that's something that some people have issues with, and honestly, I was kind of bummed by it myself. Still very worth the watch if it's your sort of thing, tho.

[Romans832]

Tolkien - 9/10 - we really enjoyed the movie. Blown away he died 2 years before my birth.

Sometimes it's mind blowing finding out some of these legends weren't so long ago.

[WestRider]

Skyscraper: Yes, it's basically Die Hard: Hong Kong edition, but as long as you don't expect anything more than that, it's great. Good action sequences, the Rock always entertains, Neve Cambell gets some pretty badass moments as well. And yeah, the one-legged man absolutely wins this @$$-kicking contest!

[WestRider]

Nothing Left to Fear: I don't understand why this got panned so hard. Sure, there have been plenty better, but it's a perfectly solid supernatural horror flick. There have been plenty far worse as well. Maybe the reviewers thought Tupper and Heche were the leads, rather than Brandes and Stone? A significant part of the plot is that Tupper and Heche's characters never do learn what's going on. Both of the actresses playing their daughters did some good work here, tho, and Ethan Peck does nicely, with sort of a "Matthew Broderick, but creepier" vibe. Oh, and Clancy Brown, too, who I don't think I've ever seen turn in a bad performance. I was also favourably impressed by how they used their clearly somewhat limited special effects budget, saving much of it for the scenes where it would matter most.

[Yarbicus]

18 hours ago, WestRider said:

Nothing Left to Fear: I don't understand why this got panned so hard. Sure, there have been plenty better, but it's a perfectly solid supernatural horror flick. There have been plenty far worse as well. Maybe the reviewers thought Tupper and Heche were the leads, rather than Brandes and Stone? A significant part of the plot is that Tupper and Heche's characters never do learn what's going on. Both of the actresses playing their daughters did some good work here, tho, and Ethan Peck does nicely, with sort of a "Matthew Broderick, but creepier" vibe. Oh, and Clancy Brown, too, who I don't think I've ever seen turn in a bad performance. I was also favourably impressed by how they used their clearly somewhat limited special effects budget, saving much of it for the scenes where it would matter most.

You had me at "Clancy Brown. "

[WestRider]

18 hours ago, Yarbicus said:

You had me at "Clancy Brown. "

Yeah, I kinda buried the lead there 😉

[InfestedKerrigan]

Red Son 2/5

 

Superman crashes in USSR instead of USA. 

Read the comic, it is much better.

[WestRider]

Polaroid: Holy trope aversion, Batman! The black lesbian character survives the whole movie! In other regards, it's pretty solid as well, but given that being black (or to a slightly lesser extent other PoC) or queer is generally a death sentence in horror flicks, that aspect was what really made an impression on me.

[InfestedKerrigan]

Sonic 1/5

It made Out of the Shadows seem like a good movie.

[InfestedKerrigan]

Birds of Prey 2/5

Trigger Warning movie, for sure.

Feels tired. 

[WestRider]

6 Underground: Imagine if Michael Bay had made Deadpool 2. Now imagine something that makes less sense than that, and has more epileptic seizure-inducing action sequences. I had no real idea what was going on most of the time, but a lot of stuff got blown up, and Ryan Reynolds generally manages to entertain.

The Belko Experiment: Watched it purely because I liked Adria Arjona in 6 Underground. It was about as I expected, but there were some good bits before and in between everything going to hell. Michael Rooker is in it, too, but his character gets killed off way too soon.

[Ish]

I thought Six Underground was fun. Not great, but certainly a worthwhile way to waste a Saturday afternoon... Of course, I also kept flashing back to various Shadowrun campaigns I’ve played in over the years.

Weirdly diverse characters with wacky personalities and complicated origin stores that don’t matter much to the plot, lengthy and detailed mission plans that break down to “and then we kick in the door and start shooting” almost immediately, and sooo many bad puns.

[WestRider]

3 hours ago, Ish said:

I thought Six Underground was fun. Not great, but certainly a worthwhile way to waste a Saturday afternoon... Of course, I also kept flashing back to various Shadowrun campaigns I’ve played in over the years.

Weirdly diverse characters with wacky personalities and complicated origin stores that don’t matter much to the plot, lengthy and detailed mission plans that break down to “and then we kick in the door and start shooting” almost immediately, and sooo many bad puns.

It was mostly just that there was so much flashing and so many super quick jump cuts that I couldn't really follow what was going on. The non-linear story structure didn't help there. I did actually enjoy most of the individual bits (note that I didn't actually say less funny than Deadpool 2, tho it is somewhat), but as with other Bay movies, the visual style makes it really hard for me to follow. The bit when 7 calls 1 out for using an Eminem song to try to inspire the dictator's brother, in particular, kinda got stuck in my head, and I keep thinking of it and cracking up.

Also, I learned who Bishop Briggs is because of it, so I've got some new tunes to rock now!

[Ish]

Yeah, the Michael Bay trademark quick cut editing and shaky cam are both movie making techniques that I loathe. I give the movie a B– at best... and am probably being generous to it since it was a straight-to-Netflix release... If I had paid money to see it, I’d probably be more disappointed.

I like my Criterion Collection DVDs and art house underground avant-garde navel gazing as much as the next pretentious cinephile... But sometimes, I just want to spend a lazy weekend on the sofa drinking high fructose corn syrup, eating cold pizza, and watching things blow up. Six Underground is a big dumb action movie, but it’s a good big dumb action movie.

[WestRider]

Skyscraper was the last one I watched that really felt like it suited that vibe. Huh. Wonder if we could get some cheesy action flick with Reynolds and Johnson both in it.

[Munkie]

2 hours ago, Ish said:

Yeah, the Michael Bay trademark quick cut editing and shaky cam are both movie making techniques that I loathe.

Hmmm...interesting. I haven't seen it myself and now I'm more tempted. While Michael Bay definitely has a signature style, I don't associate him so much with the shaky cam/quick cut gimmick. Over-saturated colors, and a lot of low angle/rotating shots.

As much as I hate the shaky cam/quick cut stuff, it's usually a movie maker's way of getting around choreography obstacles. The Christopher Nolan batman movies (though they improved this as they went on) had a heavy rubber suit that just won't look good in a choreographed fight. In fact, the original TMNT movie is the only example I can think of with good looking fights with actors in bulky rubber suits.

Usually it just comes down to budget or timeframe. Don't want to hire a quality choreographer or good stuntmen? You get the Bourne Supremacy and Ultamatum. Or the movie is just a hack job across the board like Quantum of Solace (the 2nd Daniel Craig James Bond movie). The action sequences in that [big bad swear word]show are just incomprehensible.

 

[Ish]

Don’t forget using quick cuts to cover for the physical limitations of your actors, such as trying to get a sixty-one year old Irishman over a tall fence...

I love Liam Neeson, but the guy’s Rob Roy days are long in his past.

[Romans832]

Outlaw King - 9/10 - that was an excellent movie. Friend commented they did a decent job staying true to the story... cool!

Found the hard to get between King & Queen quite interesting

[Munkie]

7 hours ago, Ish said:

I love Liam Neeson, but the guy’s Rob Roy days are long in his past.

Thank you! Yes. I knew there was a more obvious example that were more recent than a crop of 10+ year old movies. 

It is the Neeson crutch, but I'll allow it. No fence is going to convince me he isn't a badass.

[WestRider]

A Haunting in Cawdor. The title caught my eye because Necromunda. No actual connection there, but then I saw it has Cary Elwes in it. He, Shelby Young, and Scott Whitesell put in some good performances, but everything else was meh at best. Those three do have the most important roles, but they're not enough to save it.

[Ish]

On 3/6/2020 at 11:46 PM, Munkie said:

It is the Neeson crutch, but I'll allow it. No fence is going to convince me he isn't a badass.

I have no doubt that if Neeson wanted to hop a fence in order to actually kick someone’s ass, he could probably do it. The man grew up a Roman Catholic in a Protestant town in Northern Ireland during the height of “The Troubles,” that’s gonna make you one tough sumbetch for life... He was also an amateur boxer as a teen winning a couple regional titles. That was decades ago, sure, but I know I would never want to get into a bar brawl against the man.

...

Jay and Silent Bob: Reboot four and a half stars out of five, if and only if you’re already a committed “Askewniverse” fan. Although there’s plenty of funny bits and a good story in here, most of it is probably completely impenetrable to anyone not familiar with the previous films in the Clerks series (and many films not in the series, but that share cast or crew). 

Jason Mewes actually delivers some pretty good emotional beats, in addition to the typical “Snootchie Bootchies” stoner shenanigans that you expect. Harley Quinn Smith has real potential too, comic timing is a hard skill to learn and she seems to have a natural talent for it... And yet, it’s probably Ben Affleck that steals the whole movie in his single scene.

[Yarbicus]

Sicario: Day of the Soledad

I poor sequel to an awesome original that is made infinitely better when you know that Isabel Reyes is actually the live action Dora the Explorer and imagine that Benicio del Toro is a heavily armed Boots.

[WestRider]

Crimson Peak: A wonderful pile of atmospherics and amazing visual spectacle. There isn't really much to the plot, but the acting makes up for it, and even if it didn't, I wouldn't mind, because it's that nice to look at. I do have to say, tho, please, casting directors, stop giving Charlie Hunnam roles where he has to use an American accent. It's just painful. Also, if the perennial rumours of a Buffy reboot come true anytime soon, I propose Jessica Chastain for Drusilla.

[Romans832]

Ghostbusters (2016): 6/10 - I was overly underwhelmed. I LOVED the jokes made against the original & Cameos.
     But it's like they half @$$ed character development. The women were underplayed. I really wasn't happy with how they portrayed some of the ladies and how bizarre some of their behaviour was. (forgive me if explanation sucks)

Needless to say, I can't wait for Ghostbusters: Afterlife to come out!

Joker:  8/10 - Wow! Phoenix did a bang up job! Really like how and what they did with it. Super deep mental movie. Though I wonder if it was the realization of Suicide Squad. Or at least how I understood what they said was the direction Suicide Squad was supposed to go and eventually didn't... very interesting look at Joker.

[InfestedKerrigan]

11 hours ago, Romans832 said:

 

Joker:  8/10 - Wow! Phoenix did a bang up job! Really like how and what they did with it. Super deep mental movie. Though I wonder if it was the realization of Suicide Squad. Or at least how I understood what they said was the direction Suicide Squad was supposed to go and eventually didn't... very interesting look at Joker.

Check out the King of Comedy.