What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies

[Diego440]

Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012) -- The latest Bond movie, where his loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. in the grand scale of Bond movies, this one actually worked out quite well, especially having Daniel Craig in it, see I watched my fair share of Bond movies in a current state between th etimes when Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were the Bonds, and all of the older ones as either rentals or reruns, so the Bond of my time was a distinct blah. And then a few years back along the Bond lineage, came Daniel Craig and despite not having loved his first two turns as Bond, I felt that the franchise had finally been given a promising new lease on life.

In Skyfall Craig pulls off a decent mixture of nostalgia and modernity, which was just what the franchise needed. Along with an excellent performance by Javier Bardem and the visually impressive, suspenseful and dark theme that Mendes shoots with, this is truly one of the really good Bond movies, with all the bits of action, suspense and sarcastic bits that made the pre-1980 Bond so cool.

Sadly, the last sequence of the movie doesn't live up to what preceded it, making the ending seem a bit tired, it wasn’t enough to detract from the energy and drama that set it all up. This movie doens't follow the usual Bond storyline where the bad guys threatens to destroy the world, this one's a more personal story, and in that Mendes seems to have broken many rules regarding the movies, btu it's in that that he managed to make this one such a good movie, although the ending could very well be any other movie. It's sitting right now at 246 in IMDb's Top 250, but it's the type of movie that will fall away from it soon. 7.5/10

Max Manus (Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg, 2008) -- The true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II and his battle to overcome his inner demons. An epic movie about the saboteurs in World War II and their alleged place in helping Germany lose the war. Although there are many action and suspenseful parts to the movie, it's also very much about the psychological effects such a life would have on this man, who got to be a heavy drinker during the war, and after. Being a hero is just a part of the whole story.

The boyish relationships between the men, where they actually worked with very young guys whoc weren't likely targets but nevertheless became so. There is excellent acting from every side and the characters are likeable. Although it was very hard at times to root for a country that really gave up so early on into the war. But at least Max Manus never stopped believing that the Germans could be beaten, even though he was far down after losing his friends one by one in this battle for freedom. 7/10

S1M0NE (Andrew Niccol, 2002) -- A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person. Being that is stars an actor who is more notable for his dramatic roles, I was curious enough about watching this movie, and the premise seemed interesting enough. The movie works well enough as a critique on the current Hollywood state of actors being treated as royalty, but as a movie itself, it really became unwatchable, boring and stupid after the first 40 minutes. Still, I endured until the end, and was defintely not awarded a better movie, but a really weak and dull ending.

The acting is quite spotty because Al Pacino plays a stupid guy and it's unnerving how well he can manage that, but the movie also has Jason Schwartzman in it, and he was completeyl wasted! (his talent, I mean). Rachael Richards (or Anna Green or whatever she is calling herself now) on the other hand, is perfect as S1m0ne: an insipid mannequin with no talent without somebody to operate her. 3.5/10

Papillon (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1973) -- A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape. This is truly one of the most underrated movies of all time, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman delivering stellar performances that start out cheerful enough and turn maddenglyu depressing towards the end of the movie, but never losing its sense of freedom and longing for it, always making the viewer root for them and think they can actually make it, even if the odds are so much against them. Seeing the timeframe it came out in, it's no surprise it didn't fare as well, since the two first Godfathers came out around the same time and The Sting as well. It's certainly one of the best 'run for freedom' movies, and one of the really good movies from the 70s, even from the 20th century. 9/10

 

[Diego440]

A Bronx Tale (Robert De Niro, 1993) -- The story of a father who becomes worried when a local gangster befriends his son in the Bronx in the 1960s. This could very well be just another gangster movie with the typical gangster characters and actors playing them, except when you look a little deeper into it and realize it was actually written by Chazz Palminteri, who's real name is Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri, both names of the main characters in the movie. The story seems all real, the story, the neighborhood, and the Italian family values and in short it's a wonderful story brought to life. There's a bit of spotty acting, which actually seems like the type of scene that was done and redone and they just couldn't gte right and just worked with the best they had, which wasn't good enough, but that's just a technicality. Some of the characters seemed a bit weak, but the rest of the movie is good enough. 7.5/10

C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005) -- The story of a family with five brothers, seen from the perspective of one of them. The title of the movie has nothing to do with the mental state, but rather are the initials of all five brothers: Cristian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan. I actually started watching the movie thinking it could be anything and not necessarily good and was completely blown away. It's one of the best coming of age movies I've seen, but it's also about coming out and coming to terms with one's own reality. Canadian cinema may not be among the best out there, but this one really is among the best of the decade. The story spans during many years as the boys grow up, and it's a great story, as long as you don't mind a bit of homosexual aura in it, though it's not a gay movie per se, but just abut the implications, feelings and worries of coming out in a family that doesn't seem to like it, yet the movie doesn't become a super drama about this kid who can't be himself. It rather is a light movie, full of amazing acting and really thought out scenes. If there's anything negative, it could be that it seems too disperse at times, where I wasn't sure what it was about. 8.5/10

 

[MoLiEG]

Skyfall, 2 weeks ago Great movie!!!

 

[Crash]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I'll be honest, I love good food, so this documentary had more appeal to me. Nonetheless, I thought it was a great movie. It didn't really use any exaggeration or cinematic tricks, and taken out of context, the subject seems very rigid and even possibly boring, but the man's passion for sushi is incredible, and you can see it in everything that he says and does. It's always very rewarding to watch interviews, speeches and documentaries on people who are just absolutely passionate about whatever they are doing. Overall, a great film.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Brave
A pretty good film. Not one of my favorite Pixar films but still pretty good.

The Grey
Decent movie. Not a movie I would really recommend at all.

Anchorman
Yes I just now finally watched this movie. Some really really funny parts. A lot of great 1 liners. The part where the dog is kicked had me crying laughing so hard.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Dark Knight Rises on Blu-Ray | 7.8 / 10

I enjoyed it, not nearly as much as The Dark Knight though. I thought the first movie was a little over the top, the 2nd was spot on, and this latest one was kind of a mix of the two. Not much to say that everyone hasn't heard about it before, but I will say that there is no way they can end that movie trilogy like that with a wide open ending. Someone has to continue them!

 

[jeffgoddin]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I'll be honest, I love good food, so this documentary had more appeal to me. Nonetheless, I thought it was a great movie. It didn't really use any exaggeration or cinematic tricks, and taken out of context, the subject seems very rigid and even possibly boring, but the man's passion for sushi is incredible, and you can see it in everything that he says and does. It's always very rewarding to watch interviews, speeches and documentaries on people who are just absolutely passionate about whatever they are doing. Overall, a great film.

YOU, should definitely watch Tampopo

student observing the master of ramen:

 

[PletdeKoe]

Melancholia
I liked it a lot. It is slow, drab and very depressing. But I found it hypnotic. Great performance by Kirstin Dunst. Great premise, great soundtrack by Richard Wagner.
4/5

 

[Waheed]

Total Recall (2012)

I liked it, it's not deep or anything but it's fine.


Ted

There were some moments when I laughed so hard, but the ending was kinda childish.


The Thin Red Line

Great, just great. It kept me thinking about life and afterlife during the whole movie, again one of Malick's best.


The Campaign

Loved it, Will Ferrell is hilarious in this movie.


Revolutionary Road

Loved Dicaprio and Winslet in it, it's a bit depressing but very emotional.

 

[shmogt]

I watched all the Indiana Jones movies except the newest one. I might watch it just to see them all but I heard it was straight awful and the ratings are all amazing expect for that one. Not sure if I should waste my time. All the other movies are pretty good. I like how it's kinda like James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes mixed with treasure hunting. Only thing I didn't like is the movies are kinda long. They are actually right at that 2hr mark, but feel much longer. I didn't know how Nazi influenced they are. I always thought the guy was a treasure hunter finding rare artifacts and while that is true the real reason is because the Nazi's are also trying to get it lol.

 

[Omnis]

Saw Cloud Atlas. To me, it seemed like a mashup of a bunch of film ideas that never got picked up by a production company. But then again I guess the book is but a bunch of stories that wouldn't normally have been published, and so they were crafted together for the sake of the art of storytelling.

This movie isn't about the plot, but is a master demonstration of technique and art. Appreciate this production.

 

[Waheed]

The Hobbit, as many people said it has a slow start, and the first half of the movie is meh but the second part is awesome, I saw it in normal fps not 48

 

[Danny]

The Life Of Pi
Absolutely stunning visually, but the story is a little bit patchy in places, with some major fleshing out in the last quarter.

 

[Diego440]

Conspiracy (Frank Pierson, 2001) -- A dramatic recreation of the Wannsee Conference where the Nazi Final Solution phase of the Holocaust was devised. It's hard to imagine such a good WWII movie that doesn't feature a single gunshot, yet this one manages just that with very well written dialogues and superb acting by Stanley Tucci and Kenneth Branagh.

Given all that history has taught us and what went on at the Wannsee Conference, one has to detach themself from the horror that resulted from it and actually take a look at how much the decisions made at the meeting meant, which actually clears up what the Nazis thought of the Jews and how they actually saw them as, not even blinking when they're talking of exterminating millions of people... in such a creepy way that it could only be real.

The movie's quality remains good for a movie to be shown in class, but it's not really as engaging as you'd want it to be. Unbelievable terrifying. 7/10

Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976) -- A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor's ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit. This is one of those movies made years ago (36 years actually) that held a strong, yet seemingly absurd message. Still, watching it now, it's chilling how real it is; it's not only a movie that stands the passage of time, it's actually become much more current than when it probably came out.

The movie follows a low-rated television network trying to keep it's head above water, and keeping itself in the ratings by having a deranged anchor in the news who threatens to kill himself, while the public watches night after night, hoping and waiting that he will... maybe a tad dramatic, but the setting and the whole movie acts from the viewpoint that it's more entertaining than horrific. A TV network exploiting the antics of mentally-unstable people? How not right, yet it's what sells and what people like.

The script is brutal and the directing is quite incendiary, along with a great cast. It's a futuristic movie that has become current now, sort of a reflection of how cutthroat our society has become (especially TV broadcasting). A great watch and an absolute must for anyone in the field of communications. 9/10

Spies Like Us (John Landis, 1985) -- Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War. Yes, it's a funny and stupid movie, but the real importance of it, apart from the funny one-liners is that at the time it was made, the Cold War was something of great importance to everyone and a hell of a serious matter. This movie lightened it up for everyone when the War was at one of its most tense moments.

The movie isn't really a laugh riot, but it remains entertaining throughout the whole length and has a bunch of great cameos, including Frank Oz, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi, B.B King, Terry Gilliam, Martin Brest, Larry Cohen and Ray Harryhausen, plus a great range of comedy moments that mix silliness with overall acting wellness. This was the first pairing of Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, which proved well enough to come back in Caddyshack II and Nothing But Trouble, but this one is the best of those and a valuable 80s movie that made fun of all the crap that Ronnie was putting the world through at the time. 6/10

 

[Joel]

Just finished watching A Christmas Story with my family. A holiday classic that one is.

 

[Chris123]

Nightmare before Christmas baby

 

[TB]

Just finished watching A Christmas Story with my family. A holiday classic that one is.

Any gun incidents or broken light fixtures?

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I just watched Grand Prix, in blu ray. I'd seen it before, but blu ray at 180 mph is just

 

[Diego440]

Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003) -- Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent. An extraordinarily slow movie (at leats in the beginning) that loosely reenacts the Columbine High School shootings, seen from the lives and deaths of the kids that were actively and passively part of it. A point often overlooked by movies and critics is usually the point of view of the actual protagonists of the occurence, and in this case, they're teenagers. Van Sant really illustrated this point perfectly, showing how as a teenager, it's hard to visualize or empathize with life outside your own little circle. In doing so, he brings us so close to the story we almost feel as part of it. The movie isn't meant to answer any questions or uncover new evidence on the lives of the kids, but actually to show it to the rest of the world.

Thankfully the movie steers clear of looking to exploit the circumstances and the lives of the survivors or the death of the others, and with the film being done a mere 5 years after the event, it actually takes a fresh look at it. I think the ultimate message of this movie is that although they are heartbreaking and impressive tragedies, in reality there is very little we can learn from it, aside from the fact that it's just random violence; and even further still, it shows that the only path we can take is to move on and actually focus on the problems that caused them, rather than trying to make sense of their actions.

There is much more to be learned from focusing on the victims, and learning about them, than wasting time and trying to find out what motivated these kids to commit such an act. 8.5/10

Lantana (Ray Lawrence, 2001) -- Psychiatrist Valerie Somers disappears one night; Det. Leon Zat is called to investigate; his wife has been getting advice from Somers. Probably among the best of Australian movie-making of the last few years, despite being a very slow and fairly easy to figure out movie. There are some good moments in it, but I think many of the scene's congruence was just too forced, since most of the movie is focused on small side stories that eventually interwine and come together into one big story, the issue is that it became as an Aussie Magnolia that seemed to be all over the place and spent so much time on these side stories that the actual central issue is almost left untouched and uncared for. Especially when the actual mystery part of the movie is solved in the first 40 minutes, leaving you with 80 more minutes of over and over again scenery and drama. 5.5/10

Russkiy Kovcheg (a.k.a. Russian Ark) (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002) -- A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years. Despite what IMDb may claim, this isn't really a movie per se, but more of a recreation of Russian history for the last 300 years; very interestingly taught, illustrated amazingly and ultimately awesome. Yet, the movie is more or less a documentary of said history and it didn't really get interesting for me. As far as plot goes, I really think you need to have some knowledge of Russian history as the movie will not help you understand anything about it, and as I know next to nothing of the history, though I have some understanding of the political relationships between Russia and Europe as well as some of the main players. However it never got to the point where I was taken or engaged by the material; interested is perhaps a more fitting word to use.

The really impressive part of the movie and the actual reason I watched it for is that it's done in only one shot. That's only one 99-minute shot. I cannot even imagine the sheer logistics involved in creating such an effect, but it would be impressive enough if the movie was all shot in one room with a few cast members, but this film moves around the museum with a cast of at least 2,000 people and set pieces that vary from two people looking at paintings to a massive ballroom scene, and it's all done flawlessly. For this reason the acting is impressive and everyone had to get it right bang on time and they did, but nothing more. 7/10

Bad Boy Bubby (Rolf de Heer, 1993) -- Bubby's buxom mother tricked him to stay locked at home for thirty years, during which she mounts and abuses him. Buddy ends up in the streets groping random women until finding a nurse who is even more buxom than his late mother. I really didn't see this movie to the end, as I just couldn't stand the sheer disgust in it done for pure apparent shock factor. Still the actual values of the movie are that it became notorious for pushing the boundaries of good taste with its strong scenes featuring violence, incest and blasphemy amongst other taboo topics, and for using 31 individual directors of photography to shoot different scenes. But as a movie, 60 minutes in and it still didn't seem to be going nowhere. I just had to turn it off. No score.

 

[Lain]

Network
*review*

Elephant
*review*

Agreed. Great movies. 👍

 

[Antmeg26]

The Hobbit, as many people said it has a slow start, and the first half of the movie is meh but the second part is awesome, I saw it in normal fps not 48

I sat through this one yesterday. It is a great adventure. Slow maybe? But I did like it 8/10:tup:

 

[PletdeKoe]

I saw DREDD, last night. Man, what a waste of potential. It is just a random guys trying to stop a gang of drugdealers in a really big building. Everything interesting about a post-apocalyptic world is reduced to maybe 3 lines. I found it really boring, because I had no care for any of the caracters.

Groundhog Day.
Great movie, nothing to add.

 

[EatMyRB26]

I saw DREDD, last night. Man, what a waste of potential. It is just a random guys trying to stop a gang of drugdealers in a really big building. Everything interesting about a post-apocalyptic world is reduced to maybe 3 lines. I found it really boring, because I had no care for any of the caracters.

This.
Although the female Judge(Anderson?) is HAAWT!

 

[jeffgoddin]

If you like the Jackson LotR movies, you'll like his Hobbit. If you were like me mostly disgusted and appalled by Jackson's interpretation of LotR, you'll hate this Hobbit.

Soooo tedious, and so much unnecessary. Why does he feel compelled to add things that Tolkein didn't? Arwen in LotR, Azog in the Hobbit, as well as Galadriel in Rivendell. And soooo many details. It was Bilbo who deduced the hand was pointing towards a secret door! And Bilbo didn't fall and have the ring accidentally pop onto his hand (same as Frodo in Jackson's LotR), he was fiddling with it in his pocket well before meeting Gollum when he first slipped it on. And Rhadagast???? Not in the Hobbit. It was Gandalf who went and explored the rumors about a dark power in Mirkwood. Bah!

And the stupid fight scenes that went on and on, with the totally unbelievable survival of the dwarves after that brigde fell, etc. Liked some of the touches in the goblin kingdom, like the little messenger guy, but without expanding on it, I felt like the movie left potentials unexplored.

And, another continuity thing (like Thorin suddenly having a shield), how the heck did Azog find the party on the other side of the Misty mountains so easily without tracking them through the caves?!?

And Gwahir never spoke to Gandalf explaining how the Eagles' help was a returned favor.

Just so much rotten about this movie. 3D and HFR are wasted when the basics of storytelling are missed.

Still, as I did with Jackson's three LotR movies, I'll watch all the hobbits more than once, and probably like them better the 2nd and 3rd times when my panties aren't in such a knot over the little things. After all, it's awesome to see Tolkein's work reach such a mass audience.

Though for me, Rankin & Bass's Hobbit animated movie was 10x better than this effort by Jackson.

 

[Brett]

I enjoyed The Hobbit. However, I have not read the book in over a decade and thus, the source material is mostly hazy at this point. Though, The Hobbit and LOTR are both on my list to reread. The four will probably be what I read after I finish the current book I am reading.

 

[rosckolove]

I just saw The Hobbit. Awesome movie. They completely left out the ending that was in the book. Apparently they are going to make another movie or two just to cover a mountain climb, dragon slaying, and a happy ending. 8/10 Would have been a 9/10 if they had just covered the whole story.

I am more than halfway through watching Flight with Denzel Washington. Great movie so far. Good story with lots of smart funny moments, even though its a drama. Will update when I am finished.

 

[Hasis]

Just saw again every fast & furious. My favourite movie series. Now waiting for Fast Six.

Couples of days ago i saw skyfall. I want to see it again .

 

[Louie_Schumii]

Just saw again every fast & furious. My favourite movie series. Now waiting for Fast Six.

Couples of days ago i saw skyfall. I want to see it again .

I saw 1, 3 and 5. The other 2 are skip-worthy. Also saw The Dark Knight Rises and Taken 2 just for nostalgia's sake.

 

[Brett]

I just saw The Hobbit. Awesome movie. They completely left out the ending that was in the book. Apparently they are going to make another movie or two just to cover a mountain climb, dragon slaying, and a happy ending. 8/10 Would have been a 9/10 if they had just covered the whole story.

There is going to be three Hobbit movies.

 

[Danoff]

The Dark Knight Rises 👎👍

I'm going to preface this by saying that Batman Begins is on my top 10 of all time list. So don't assume that anything negative I say about this movie is a result of me not wanting very badly to love this franchise.

There is so much not to like about this movie. So many inexplicable decisions, so many transparent plot points, and so much just for the sake of creating conflict that didn't feel real or create tension.

Bane's voice didn't fit his character. Bothered me the entire movie.

Spoiler

The twist at the end where Batman's trusted girlfriend turns out to be the real leader of the league of shadows is beyond ridiculous. It was done only to create a surprise, and it didn't really change much.

The bat-copter featured in the trailers sucked.

The football field destruction featured in the trailers still makes no sense in the movie. Only adds up if the football player is deaf.

Spoiler

The Alfred/Wayne conflict is beyond ridiculous. The resolution is even more so.

Spoiler

The US armed forces would not be prepared to shoot civilians trying to leave, or blow up the bridge. It's an obvious bluff on the part of the terrorists to be willing to blow up the entire city if even one person crosses the bridge.

Spoiler

What were we waiting for when it came to the bomb? Why did we not just blow the city up? Why wait for batman to come back and foil the plan? Sure maybe the bad guy wants to enjoy the chaos for a little while, but long enough for Wayne to recover from a broken back and work up the strength to climb out of the pit? That seems beyond excessive.

Spoiler

Catwoman's character was very poorly motivated. Her reason for returning made very little sense.

Spoiler

Why does everyone suddenly know Wayne's identity? This is something he worked really hard for two movies to protect, and now suddenly it's common knowledge? After he disappeared for years?

Spoiler

Why does everyone still somehow love Batman despite him being (ridiculously) blamed for killing a hero?

Spoiler

Why does anyone believe Wayne gambled his company away the same exact day that thugs hacked into the stock exchange? And why can we suddenly make stock trades in someone's name if we steal their fingerprint? Why did any of that make sense to anyone?

Spoiler

Did anything about the plane sequence in the opening scene make sense to anyone? Aircraft are not capable of that.

Spoiler

A broken back is not fixable by hanging from a rope and getting punched in the back

I could go on. Bottom line is that this movie's plot held together even worse than Dark Knight. I'm glad they're not making more of these, because they're just getting worse. I did give the movie a thumbs up for creating an atmosphere. It did have some interesting moments, and had a feel very much like you'd expect from this franchise. The production quality was such that I felt the movie is not a complete waste of time, but it pales in comparison to the second movie. What this movie lacked was the joker - a really good bad guy who you almost rooted for. It lacked Heath Ledger, and it lacked even the substandard writing of Dark Knight. And of course the second movie paled in comparison to the first.

It's worth watching once, but it's not what I would call a good movie.