The "I'm watching/just watched *movie title* thread....

[BobGrau]

It's tommy's fiancee.

[stevesh]

Just watched Act Of Valor. Stale storyline and wooden acting, but the combat action scenes have to be seen to be believed.

[onan]

Just saw Side Effects. Has some very thought provoking situations. worth the time to watch.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Just watched Act Of Valor. Stale storyline and wooden acting, but the combat action scenes have to be seen to be believed.

I liked this movie quite a bit too. Unlike most hollywood fare that emphasizes a super-action hero (Chuck Norris), this one emphasizes the power of a fighting unit.

On a side note, Jack Reacher (a super-action hero) was very good I thought.

[b_dubb]

Tried watching an episode of Walking Dead. Despite the fact they were in the open with clear sight in all directions the walkers were able to "surprise" them. This show is about as original as a turd.

[999]

Yeah I watched the Sharknado trailer. Never said I had good taste.

[b_dubb]

an early review of Pacific Rim indicates this might be the best, most orignial film this Summer.  surprise surprise

[stevesh]

If you like your dystopia gray and violent, Equilibrium (Christian Bale) is pretty good. Excellent (if really over-the-top) chop-socky gunfight scenes.

[onan]

I am going to give this a try this weekend.




R.I.P.D. Trailer

[b_dubb]

I've only liked Ryan Reynolds in "Smokin Aces" and the "Van Wilder" movie. He's terrible in most anything else. Absolutely awful in Green Lantern. Man that was bad

[Sardondi]

I am going to give this a try this weekend.
R.I.P.D. Trailer

Well, this could be an absolutely hilarious masterpiece, and I hope it is, since I like "buddy movies" when they're well done. 

But I have the sneaking suspicion R.I.P.D. is a movie with an "Oscar-Winning Trailer"â,,¢. That's a trailer which, given what there is to work with, is such fantastic work, that whoever edited it should win some kind of Major Award. Because to make a 1-minute trailer they must have stripped the movie of every sure-fire gag in it to give the public the impression it's a "Laff Riot"â,,¢; when in reality it's a kill-me-NOW snoozefest which is so obviously a stinker that George Zimmerman would have a better chance of winning the Harlem seat to the NYC Council than the movie would of making it to a second weekend. Here I'm afraid the producers know they're only going to get one weekend before WOM absolutely kills it deader than Paula Deen's chances as the NAACP keynote speaker. Jeff Bridges simply dusts off the increasingly-over-the-top tough Texas lawdog voice as employed to greater effect sequentially in Texasville, Wild Bill, Crazy Heart and True Grit. And Mary-Louise Parker looks like she plays the same character she plays in Weeds , Red and Red.2 (Speaking of Red 2, is it likely to be any better?) Ryan Reynolds creeps me out just as any current or former Scientologist does.

So, I'm kinda thinking R.I.P.D is doomed. I hope not, because I need some laughs, if not a Laff Riotâ,,¢. Please let us know if there's any hope.

[onan]

Well, this could be an absolutely hilarious masterpiece, and I hope it is, since I like "buddy movies" when they're well done. 

But I have the sneaking suspicion R.I.P.D. is a movie with an "Oscar-Winning Trailer"â,,¢. That's a trailer which, given what there is to work with, is such fantastic work, that whoever edited it should win some kind of Major Award. Because to make a 1-minute trailer they must have stripped the movie of every sure-fire gag in it to give the public the impression it's a "Laff Riot"â,,¢; when in reality it's a kill-me-NOW snoozefest which is so obviously a stinker that George Zimmerman would have a better chance of winning the Harlem seat to the NYC Council than the movie would of making it to a second weekend. Here I'm afraid the producers know they're only going to get one weekend before WOM absolutely kills it deader than Paula Deen's chances as the NAACP keynote speaker. Jeff Bridges simply dusts off the increasingly-over-the-top tough Texas lawdog voice as employed to greater effect sequentially in Texasville, Wild Bill, Crazy Heart and True Grit. And Mary-Louise Parker looks like she plays the same character she plays in Weeds , Red and Red.2 (Speaking of Red 2, is it likely to be any better?) Ryan Reynolds creeps me out just as any current or former Scientologist does.

So, I'm kinda thinking R.I.P.D is doomed. I hope not, because I need some laughs, if not a Laff Riotâ,,¢. Please let us know if there's any hope.

I have the same concerns Sardondi... and as usual your description, this time of, trailers is dead on

[coaster]

Jeff Bridges simply dusts off the increasingly-over-the-top tough Texas lawdog voice as employed to greater effect sequentially in Texasville, Wild Bill, Crazy Heart and True Grit.

Thats exactly what I thought when I saw the trailer. It seems pretty close to Men In Black anyways, so I'm not sure if Bridges could even save it. He is one of my favorite actors though. I really liked Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Last Picture Show, and obviously, The Big Lebowski. I'll still probably see R.I.P.D. because, what the hell.

[Cynnie]

You people are smahhhty pants ..i saw this is the end ..i laughed .

The wrongness of the whole movie made it awesome

[FightTheFuture]

I just caught The Lone Ranger yesterday.

I very much enjoyed the movie, despite being ripped to shreds by film critics. Of course, I`m a Johnny Depp fan, and a fan of his Pirates franchise. And, yes, he does bring a good amount of Jack Sparrow to his role as Tonto.


The action scenes are amazing! The scenery is spectacular! If you`re a Western fan (ESPECIALLY John Ford westerns) You`ll like this film. It is a bit lengthy, though -- over 2 1/2 hours. 

[Sardondi]

You people are smahhhty pants ..i saw this is the end ..i laughed .
The wrongness of the whole movie made it awesome

Is it so bad it's good?

I just caught The Lone Ranger yesterday.
I very much enjoyed the movie, despite being ripped to shreds by film critics. Of course, I`m a Johnny Depp fan, and a fan of his Pirates franchise. And, yes, he does bring a good amount of Jack Sparrow to his role as Tonto.
The action scenes are amazing! The scenery is spectacular! If you`re a Western fan (ESPECIALLY John Ford westerns) You`ll like this film. It is a bit lengthy, though -- over 2 1/2 hours.

My 20-something kids saw it and said I wouldn't like it, whatever that means. For one thing, I'm tired of things blowing up, cars flying around, and of human beings' bodies treated as if they're made of highly compacted rubber. I see the hero gently pushed through the air by movie explosions as if being caught near such a blast is no worse than being in one of those kid's inflatable bouncers; whereas an actual blast, which is pushing masses of air at over 5 miles a second, is enough to dismember the body from air pressure alone, forget shrapnel. Let's see Bruce Willis wisetalk his head back on after an actual blast - I'd pay to see that. We're meat bags full of fragile bloody pulp. If these bags o' squish instantly go from 0 to 50,000 feet per second, there's going to be more than some bruises.

I guess I'm just beyond ever being able to enjoy a Hollywood action movie. I want my movies to move at what today would be called a ponderous, glacial, almost elephantine pace, with many contemplative silences for the actors to truly practice their craft. Now, I'm not talking about just long movies, which too often just provide space to shove more explosions into. I found The Dark Knight Rises boring to the point of being unwatchable. My idea of a gloriously good movie is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the original from the late 70's, with Alec Guinness, not the Cliff's Notes abridged and unintelligible edition from 2011, as good as Gary Oldman is. I relish movies that take awhile to develop, for us to learn the character before plopping into the plot. I remember thinking that there were long, slow scenes in George Clooney's The American which showed the care and detail the character used in preparation for his work, some of which didn't become clear until later and could only be appreciated afterwards.

I have nothing against "action movies" per se - Saving Private Ryan is one of favorite movies, and I love the Bourne series - I just hate the standard "blockbuster" explosion fests which the Christopher Nolan Batman movies are, and the Sherlock Holmes franchise became with the ridiculously overblown second film. Would it be too much to ask for the Bond franchise to not be about ever-increasing explosives bills? Give me slooooow films, without any explosions.

Slow movie favorites, anyone?

[West of the Rockies]

I hear you, Sardondi, on the issue of utterly unrealistic, gravity-defying action sequences, such as characters holding onto a rope with one hand, a full-grown woman with the other, and swinging (with perfect balance) from one exploding precipice to another.  I'm tired of people leaping into the air (or being ejected), bending and twisting and firing a gun with perfect accuracy at the villains.  Tom Cruise riding a crotch-rocket motorcycle, going airborn, firing over his shoulder and striking his target... ludicrous.

My wife and daughter are always telling me I need to put on my "suspenders of disbelief" (a play-on-words, obviously, for "suspension of disbelief").  I have a harder and harder time fitting into those damn suspenders.

I'm also a little tired of people taking repeated bare-knuckled punches to the face, rarely losing a tooth, and then grinning at their attacker.  You can train your gut to take a punch; I don't think you can train your nose or jaw to do so.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

They released Zulu on bluray 3 weeks ago or so, and they did a fantastic job with the conversion.


Other than that Killing Them Softly was a decent crime/gangster movie with a slower, more deliberate pacing.


[attachimg=1]

[Sardondi]

...I'm also a little tired of people taking repeated bare-knuckled punches to the face, rarely losing a tooth, and then grinning at their attacker.  You can train your gut to take a punch; I don't think you can train your nose or jaw to do so.

Absolutely. It doesn't take too many punches for your face to look like a papier mache mask that got wet, and then had blood splattered on it. No blood, no bruises? Even the next day when shiners come out all nice and blue?

And I love the "suspenders"!

[West of the Rockies]

There's a program on Netflix called "Prophets of Science Fiction".  It was produced in '11 by Ridley and (the late) Tony Scott.  It runs for only 8 episodes (42 minutes per).  I've watched the shows on Heinlein, Clarke, and Philip K. Dick.  Good stuff!

[onan]

So, I'm kinda thinking R.I.P.D is doomed. I hope not, because I need some laughs, if not a Laff Riotâ,,¢. Please let us know if there's any hope.

On my way home yesterday... I did a quick search for a review of RIPD... the first return on my phone stated "Too awful to review". So it fell into the I will download it in the future.


So we went and saw the Conjuring... if you are killing time... it isn't a bad way to drop 40 bucks. It was spooky and intelligent, unlike most scary movies. The last 20 minutes are comparable to the original Exorcist. But the movie doesn't quite have the oppressive mood the exorcist did. It is engaging most of the time. 

[HorrorRetro]

So we went and saw the Conjuring... if you are killing time... it isn't a bad way to drop 40 bucks. It was spooky and intelligent, unlike most scary movies. The last 20 minutes are comparable to the original Exorcist. But the movie doesn't quite have the oppressive mood the exorcist did. It is engaging most of the time.

We did too.  We went to the double feature at the drive-in last night.  It was pretty good. I liked seeing Ron Livingston again.  I don't think I've seen him in much of anything since Office Space. 

[West of the Rockies]

You have a drive-in near you, Retro?  I was telling my 11-year-old daughter about them just yesterday.  I live in northern California and am aware of none within 100 miles.  What state do you live in?

[HorrorRetro]

You have a drive-in near you, Retro?  I was telling my 11-year-old daughter about them just yesterday.  I live in northern California and am aware of none within 100 miles.  What state do you live in?

We actually have two.  Both are about 30 miles from us.  I'm in western WA, near Tacoma.  We have the Rodeo in Port Orchard/Bremerton and the Skyline in Shelton.  We went to the Rodeo last night.  They have a car capacity of 1000.  It was pretty darn full too.  It was a lot of fun.  When we lived in OK, we'd go to the drive-in in Chickasha. 

If you're near Concord, the Solano is still open. http://www.westwindpublicmarkets.com/westwind/index.php?r=drivein/location&idtheater=1604

A nice feature is that the drive-in plays classic drive-in music and the original snack bar commercials.  You can listen to the drive-in radio channel here, on the left side close to the bottom of the list  http://www.rodeodrivein.com/ 

[stevesh]

You have a drive-in near you, Retro?  I was telling my 11-year-old daughter about them just yesterday.  I live in northern California and am aware of none within 100 miles.  What state do you live in?

We have two first-run drive-ins that I know of in Michigan - one in Coldwater and one up north somehere (Rogers City?).

[b_dubb]

Watching "God Bless America". Wow.

[bateman]

I have to see this..

http://youtu.be/_MSrAwfagG4

[General Johnson Jameson]

Found a Yootoob poster that has uploaded all of the X-Files spinoff "The Lone Gunmen" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Gunmen_%28TV_series%29 series on their channel. I highly recommend 

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Just saw "Oblivion".  Wasn't expecting much, and it was a pleasant surprise.  Slow pace reminded me of older sci fi (though we're not talking Tarkovsky's Solaris here).  Style more than substance, but enjoyable.  For as much crap as he gets, I still think Cruise is a decent actor.

[b_dubb]

I thought Oblivion was pretty forgettable. The plot twists really weren't  surprising. The narrative exists solely to set you up to think contrary to what's obvious to the eye.

I give it a pass. It is pretty to look at. Like the apocalypse designed by Jon I've from Apple