The Films and Movies Thread

[iacas]

This thread will be for the discussion of the most recent film/movie you've seen, news or discussion of movies you want to see, etc.

I saw Now You See Me the other day. It was disappointing. Too much suspension of disbelief, and nowhere near enough of the backstory to make you wonder WHY the four people would go along with the whole thing.

We'll enforce a grading scale of eagle, birdie, par, bogey, or double.

I give Now You See Me a bogey.

[Ernest Jones]

  iacas said:

This thread will be for the discussion of the most recent film/movie you've seen, news or discussion of movies you want to see, etc.

I saw Now You See Me the other day. It was disappointing. Too much suspension of disbelief, and nowhere near enough of the backstory to make you wonder WHY the four people would go along with the whole thing.

We'll enforce a grading scale of eagle, birdie, par, bogey, or double.

I give Now You See Me a bogey.

Yeah I saw that too. I would call it a double bogey or worse. I knew it was going to be awful after the scene where they go into the apartment and discover there's no power so they can't turn on the lights, next scene they are all walking around the place with flashlights because...everyone...carries flashlights...at all times...in the day...in the city...

On a more positive note, I saw Epic with my kids last week and that was great. Best animated film I've seen in quite some time.

I give it a birdie in terms of animated films.

[nevets88]

The Numbers Station - A darker version of Grosse Pointe Blank. It's not as action packed as say the Bourne series but not as carefully paced as Tinker Tailor Soildier Spy, but somewhere in between. I'd give it a par but with a birdie chance lip-out. If you like Cusack, you'll probably like this movie, it's on Netflix. If the guy opposite Cusack looks familiar, that's Ser Davos, the Onion Knight from Game of Thrones.

[Golfingdad]

  Ernest Jones said:

On a more positive note, I saw Epic with my kids last week and that was great. Best animated film I've seen in quite some time.

I give it a birdie in terms of animated films.

For whatever reason, I haven't really "seen" this one yet.  What I mean is, we have the DVD, and my son has watched it several times ... even a few where I've been in the room, but I've yet to actually pay close attention.  He and my wife love it though, so I'm sure that it is good.

He is very excited about Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, yet my wife is, shall we say, not ... so I will be seeing that one with him.

The last movie I saw in the theater was "Turbo," which was perfectly entertaining for 90 minutes, even if 100% predictable and familiar. I'd give it a par.

Thursday while on an airplane, I watched Hangover 3 (although I missed several parts while attending to the kids) and thought it was decent. Would probably also give that one a par as well.

Really, really can't wait until Thor 2 comes out ... which I think is next month!!

[RPMPIRE]

  Golfingdad said:

For whatever reason, I haven't really "seen" this one yet.  What I mean is, we have the DVD, and my son has watched it several times ... even a few where I've been in the room, but I've yet to actually pay close attention.  He and my wife love it though, so I'm sure that it is good.

He is very excited about Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, yet my wife is, shall we say, not ... so I will be seeing that one with him.

The last movie I saw in the theater was "Turbo," which was perfectly entertaining for 90 minutes, even if 100% predictable and familiar.  I'd give it a par.

Thursday while on an airplane, I watched Hangover 3 (although I missed several parts while attending to the kids) and thought it was decent.  Would probably also give that one a par as well.

Really, really can't wait until Thor 2 comes out ... which I think is next month!!

I've had Epic on my Amazon for a while but I never watched it. My wife saw it with my kids and she said it was good. I'll watch it with the kids eventually.

I also got Iron Man 3 on Amazon and watched it over the weekend. Compared to the first and second movie, this one wasn't as compelling, but it was still a good Marvel movie. I'd give it a birdie.

Saw Star Trek Into Darkness a couple of weeks back and I did like it a little better than the first one but the ending felt a little rushed. I'd give it a birdie as well.

I usually don't go to the movies as much anymore because on my kids are still at the young and rowdy stage and on my free time, I'd rather just go play golf. So most of the new movies, I'll watch it on Amazon since it's released a few weeks before the blu ray comes out.

[mvmac]

Saw Prisoners during the weekend and would give it an eagle on an easy par 5.  Intense thriller, great performances by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal with a little twist at the end.  Has some Breaking Bad-esque qualities where you might be asking yourself how far  you would go if you were put in this position.  Not the movie to go see if you want a light hearted date night

[JetFan1983]

I finally saw World War Z off iTunes the other day, and it was horrible. Zombies are pretty "played out" at this point, and the genre didn't get any help when they released this load of steamy poo. The movie was nothing like the book... aside from the fact that zombies were present. I've said many times that WWZ could only work as a television series given the short storied nature of the novel, but of course, it was turned into a vehicle for Brad Pitt instead. Yikes.

I knew the movie would be bad as soon as I learned who Pitt's character was and that it would be featured heavily... in the first few pages of the novel, his character insists that "his own backstory would not cloud the more important story of what happened to the world at large," or something to that effect. Instead, the movie violated this rule right from the beginning, only concerning itself with Pitt's character and his family. From the beginning, those who read the novel are pretty much told to go eat a dick.

Some of what made the novel so good is that the United States knew the zombies were coming -- the virus originates in China -- and yet cannot do anything to stop it despite months of preparation. In the movie, Americans are all surprised when zombies start popping up -- a classic (and now bad) zombie cliche -- and now even more of the originality of the novel has been stripped away and shat on.

The epidemic supposedly begins with one person whose origins are unknown in the novel. The world has its chances to nip it in the bud, but fails over and over again to take the proper action. Even when it reaches a larger scale and nations get involved in putting their heads together to stop it, the bureaucracies cannot agree on how to proceed, and the epidemic just continues to get worse. There were so many brilliant jabs at our own society in the book that the film just decided to flush down the toilet.

I feel like Hollywood just told me I'm too stupid to understand a zombie film with legitimate political implications to it. Thanks.

They ruined a story with promise.

WWZ gets a big fat double , and I'd give it a snowman if that was part of the rules of the thread.

It's movies like this that make me happy we at least live in the golden age of cable television. I never have to go to the movies anymore!

[Ernest Jones]

  JetFan1983 said:

I finally saw World War Z off iTunes the other day, and it was horrible. Zombies are pretty "played out" at this point, and the genre didn't get any help when they released this load of steamy poo. The movie was nothing like the book... aside from the fact that zombies were present. I've said many times that WWZ could only work as a television series given the short storied nature of the novel, but of course, it was turned into a vehicle for Brad Pitt instead. Yikes.  I knew the movie would be bad as soon as I learned who Pitt's character was and that it would be featured heavily... in the first few pages of the novel, his character insists that "his own backstory would not cloud the more important story of what happened to the world at large," or something to that effect. Instead, the movie violated this rule right from the beginning, only concerning itself with Pitt's character and his family. From the beginning, those who read the novel are pretty much told to go eat a dick.  Some of what made the novel so good is that the United States knew the zombies were coming -- the virus originates in China -- and yet cannot do anything to stop it despite months of preparation. In the movie, Americans are all surprised when zombies start popping up -- a classic (and now bad) zombie cliche -- and now even more of the originality of the novel has been stripped away and shat on.  The epidemic supposedly begins with one person whose origins are unknown in the novel. The world has its chances to nip it in the bud, but fails over and over again to take the proper action. Even when it reaches a larger scale and nations get involved in putting their heads together to stop it, the bureaucracies cannot agree on how to proceed, and the epidemic just continues to get worse. There were so many brilliant jabs at our own society in the book that the film just decided to flush down the toilet. I feel like Hollywood just told me I'm too stupid to understand a zombie film with legitimate political implications to it. Thanks.  They ruined a story with promise. WWZ gets a big fat double , and I'd give it a snowman if that was part of the rules of the thread.  It's movies like this that make me happy we at least live in the golden age of cable television. I never have to go to the movies anymore!

I've heard a lot of similar reviews. Too bad, you'd think it would be easy to make a good zombie movie (or Family Guy) but this sounds like it's just a big stink fest.

[nevets88]

  Ernest Jones said:

I've heard a lot of similar reviews. Too bad, you'd think it would be easy to make a good zombie movie (or Family Guy) but this sounds like it's just a big stink fest.

I read and loved the book and still enjoyed the movie - I wasn't expecting the it to be anything like the book and I agree, a long form serial format would serve the book better.

There were some very good movies this year - Before Midnight, Mud, Stoker, Fruitvale Station. And there's Gravity to come. And 12 Years a Slave. And Momuments Men.

[boogielicious]

Clear History , starring Larry David was good (par).  I'm not a big Larry David fan, but it was funny.  They did a great job with the extras having authentic Mass accents.  Lenny Clark, Jimmy Tingle and Patty Ross, who plays Gladys, were great.

Now You See Me had its moments, but my wife could not stay awake.

As for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy , ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.  Triple bogey for boredom and dialog that was in the "low talker" range.  I couldn't make it through half the movie.

[butt3r3dt0ast]

Last night, I watched The Looper . I thought the concept of the movie was cool, but I think they could have done it a lot better. It was kind of slow at times. I'd give it a bogey.

[nevets88]

  boogielicious said:

As for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.  Triple bogey for boredom and dialog that was in the "low talker" range.  I couldn't make it through half the movie.

I would give TTSS a tap-in birdie. The movie had so many good actors - Oldman, Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt. It's a movie that gets better and better with repeated viewings.

I can see why people find it boring though, it's very deliberately placed, the plot is very hard to follow, even when it was a 5 hour mini-series with Sir Alec Guiness.

[sacm3bill]

  JetFan1983 said:

I finally saw World War Z off iTunes the other day, and it was horrible. Zombies are pretty "played out" at this point, and the genre didn't get any help when they released this load of steamy poo. The movie was nothing like the book... aside from the fact that zombies were present.

I heard an interview with the author in which he was asked whether it bothered him that they changed so much from the book. His response was something along the lines of, "Not really - they changed so much that it's pretty much an entirely different story, so they can't even be compared."

[nevets88]

SEE

THIS

MOVIE

In IMAX if possible.

[iacas]

I remember years ago Sandra Bullock said she didn't care at all about awards, and she did movies because it was fun, and so she mostly did comedies and kept things light and didn't care about serious roles or "competing" and so on. It was fine - I admired her for being honest about it and, duh, she was making millions of dollars, so you can't fault her for it.

Then she did The Blind Side , and now this.

So while I didn't blame her before, I'm glad she's changed her mind. Undoubtedly it's still "fun" for her, but it's good to see her taking on more challenges and more serious roles.

P.S. I think I typed something like this years ago, somewhere on this forum. Maybe it was elsewhere.

[boogielicious]

The Blind Side was awesome.

[nevets88]

I give Gravity a chip in from 30 yards eagle.

This is not spoilery - there is a movie within a movie, a story within a story folks. On the surface, it's Space ... yo, but if you dig deeper into the dialogue, symbolism and imagery, there's a message in there that depending on your life beliefs, can be very moving.

Bullock made two amazing career decisions this year with Heat (so funny) and Gravity. I think she fits the role better than Jolie, Johanssen, Lively or Cotillard would have.

Will see it again in the theaters soon. This is not a movie you watch on your flat panel, even if it is 80 inches.

[mvmac]

  nevets88 said:

I give Gravity a chip in from 30 yards eagle.

This is not spoilery - there is a movie within a movie, a story within a story folks. On the surface, it's Space... yo, but if you dig deeper into the dialogue, symbolism and imagery, there's a message in there that depending on your life beliefs, can be very moving.

Bullock made two amazing career decisions this year with Heat (so funny) and Gravity. I think she fits the role better than Jolie, Johanssen, Lively or Cotillard would have.

Will see it again in the theaters soon. This is not a movie you watch on your flat panel, even if it is 80 inches.

Going to see it in IMAX 3D tonight, looking forward to it