What Did You Watch Today?

[Monkey D. Lars]

I know.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Just seen Falling Down, was there ever a wrestling gimmick like the character Michael Douglas plays?

[edcq]

I saw three movies today:

First up was This Is The End (4 out 5 stars) - just really funny throughout the entire movie. It does get a little heavy towards the end, but still enjoyable. The ending was predictable, but done very well. Emma Watson was great in her little cameo.

Next up was Man Of Steel (4 1/2 out of 5) - I feel like this movie is very divisive, you either love it or hate it. I'm in the "love it" crowd. Just a great performance from everyone in the cast and really liked how action oriented it was. Also Henry Cavill IS Superman just as Robert Downey Jr. IS Iron Man. I can't wait for the next couple of movies and hopefully a great JLA big screen adaptation to give Marvel a run for their money.

And finally, I just finished watching Super (5 out of 5) on Netflix starring Rainn Wilson. I really started watching this movie with pretty low expectations, but I was completely blown away. The final third of the movie was spectacularl. The only disappointment I find is that they did not leave it open for a sequel because I could really go for more of the Crimson Bolt.

[Jimmy]

Finally watched my first Tarkovsky film. Ivan's Childhood was very, very good and now I'm looking forward to continuing through his work. Well, when I'm in the right mood. I know a lot of it's slow. And quite long.

[LL!]

I've been trying to piece together my thoughts on why I didn't think World War Z worked.

First of all, I'm not gonna say it was BAD. There were a lot of elements there to entertain. I've always had a bit of an affinity for the "running" zombies because I think they're a hell of a lot scarier and would NOT want to be in that zombie apocalypse because I will not survive. These "zombies" are absolutely berserk and they bring a real element of terror because they're unpredictably strong and fast. Their main attraction is sound, so they reminded me a ton of the Clickers in the Last of Us. Given that familiarity/comparison, it made these things a lot better/scarier. They had some nice ideas about battling zombies/curing the zombie disease. Some of the scenes/shots really gave you a sense of urgency and fear.

Secondly, I'm not gonna say it was GOOD either. There was a lot of cliche/standard fare (which are to be expected, to be fair.) There will always be certain beats you have to hit with this kind of movie, but it felt a little obvious. Some of the dialogue felt a bit forced. The little girl, in particular, was incredibly annoying and not sympathetic as I'm thinking the filmmakers wanted her to be. There's a subplot with a little boy that goes nowhere. And the ending leaves you with a feeling like, "That's it? Really?"

The movie doesn't feel cohesive, and I think that's because it got butchered to high hell. And that's, ultimately, going to be the downfall for any movie. The flow stops working when you decide you need to completely reshoot the last 45 minutes. (Which is almost half the movie, by the way.) It's pretty ironic that as much as the movie wanted to deviate from the book, it sort of ended up feeling like I was reading the book all over again. The movie starts to feel very segmented as it goes on. And there were a lot of miscues when it came to possibly adding more drama.

Look, I didn't want to hate World War Z, but after everything leading into the movie, my expectations were pretty low. And I think that helped. Did it exceed my expectations? By the smallest bit, it did. Yes. Would I watch it again? Probably not.

[livid]

Sounds about what I expect from a Marc Forster film so at least my expectations will remain the same.

[Jimmy]

Has anyone watched Pickpocket? After watching my first Tarkovsky, I thought I'd watch my first Bresson film as well. And, well, I didn't really rate it at all. It has quite a lot of hype behind it; being very acclaimed and liked. And I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I thought it was just a bit flat and disjointed. Other than some really well paced and well shot thieving sequences, it all just felt a little pedestrian - like, very predictable and not overly thought-provoking or anything. I just can't wrap my head around why it's so hyped up. I know Truffaut and Godard came after this, and some claim it paved the way for their films, but both Breathless and the 400 Blows and are like ridiculously superior.

I'll still happily check out more of his films - some of them sound really interesting. But I just feel really disappointed.

[Benjamin]

Just watched Monsters University. As good as I hoped it would be, best time I've had so far this year at the cinema, barring maybe Iron Man 3.

[stokeriño]

Even with my low expectations, I still managed to be surprised by how fucking awful After Earth is.

And for a split-second near the end, when his dream version of his dead sister says to him "You're still in box" I hoped - I PRAYED -

please please please let she mean that literally. It would be mind-bogglingly stupid but at least it would break this film out of the tedious inevitability that the paint-by-numbers plot and its two hideously boring main characters had been ambling through for the prior 90 minutes.

Nah, she meant it figuratively of course. So that he can be fearless and so on. Stabby creature - send beacon - get rescued - hug dad - bye.

Damn.

[HC]

Okay, I enjoyed the hell out of Killer Joe. That ending though...

[C-MIL]

Limitless was on last night.

That movie is kind of a mess...

[ZJ Penn]

World War Z was good. And thats about it. There wasnt anything oustanding there but I didnt hate any of it either.

[HC]

Monster's University was a cute movie, but god a theater packed with young children is the worst. I don't mind, as it's a kid's movie, but bringing a crying baby to the theater seems ridiculous.

Edited June 23, 2013 by HeadCheese

[Monkey D. Lars]

Despicable Me 2, I'm in love with those minions AGAIN!!!!

[Thrilla]

Jeepers Creepers, Dog Soldiers, Terminator 2 and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones today. Jeepers Creepers was awful, Dog Soldiers was average, Terminator 2 is solid and I enjoy Attack of the Clones even though most don't.

[Damian WayLNKe]

Psycho II...so much misdirection.

[ROC]

Our Idiot Brother is probably one of the more charming movies I've seen in a long while. It says a lot that Paul Rudd can make a character that could easily turn into an annoying caricature into a sweet character whose presence makes the movie better when he's on screen.

[Monkey D. Lars]

The Lost Boys, great film and it just breathes the 80's.

[Slogger]

Rounders - Don't know about you guys but I liked it.

[Jimmy]

Watched Le Mepris which is the first Godard films of the 4 that I didn't really like (the others, for reference, are Breathless, Perriot Le Fou & Bande A Part). I dunno what I'm missing, because it's got such rave reviews, but after the pretty excellent first half an hour the film just descends into something really tedious where Bridget Berdot's character is extremely annoying & illogical and in no way entertaining to watch. It was extremely well made, and the filmmaking aspects are definitely interesting, but I just couldn't have given a toss about the narrative when it wasn't about Fritz Lang's attempt to make a movie.