Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Theli]

I sit cross legged all the time. Hell, I can still put my foot behind my head (better than in my mouth).

[markgunnells]

Skeleton Twins was a great movie, I highly recommend it. A real character study, and managed to showcase flawed characters who make horrible decisions, but somehow you still feel for them and root for them to get their shit together.

[srboone]

Cinderella: The movie i wish Maleficent had been. Everything about this movie is exquiisite. There's no dark or polical point being made here; no revisionist mishandling of a classic tale; just a faithful rendering of the Disney version of Cinderella. Magnificent set pieces, great special effects (the transformation sequence is a WOW!), and performances bordering on perfection (particulalrly the beautifully type-cast Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother--stick around for the credits to here her take on "Bibiddi-Bobiddi-Boo!") make for an enchanting movie-going experience. Some may complain that Lily James does not show enough spunk in the title role, but that isn't what this Cinderella is about. Director Kenneth Branagh is becoming one of the most interesting directors in Hollywood. He made Thor a better movie than it should have been. His Jack Ryan: Shadow Recuit, while not revolutuionizing anything, was slick and enjoyable. And anyone who can make Keanu Reeves look and sound like a trained Shakespearean actor is almost beyond reproach. But Cinderella may be his masterpiece.

5/5

[Sock Monkey]

Alien Resurrection: My wife bought me the Alien Quadrilogy on Blu-Ray a couple years back for Christmas and I've put off watching the last installment in the Alien franchise for some time. So, yesterday, I finally plopped down on the couch to revisit it since its initial release. And, dear lord, it is pretty much as bad as I remembered.

Every decision made in the script seems to be the wrong one. The attempts at humor fall flat, the xenomorphs have decided to get creative in their kills (one example is a soldier being lured into one of the xenomorphs containment cells and the xenomorph deciding to push a button and freeze the soldier so that he'll shatter into large chunks instead of just kill him, which makes the xenomorphs behave more like a slasher villain than anything else), characters make dumb decisions every step of the way (yes, this stranger is carrying a chestburster within him, but let's see if we can't escape with our lives, then perform surgery on him afterward). And, finally, the decision to introduce a new version of the xenomorphs is just misguided and its design pales in comparison to what has come before.

Even if this was a stand-alone feature instead of being connected to a beloved franchise, it would be bad. It's just worse because the first two movies are so good, and even the third is interesting if very flawed.

Grade: D-

[subie09lega]

Alien Resurrection: My wife bought me the Alien Quadrilogy on Blu-Ray a couple years back for Christmas and I've put off watching the last installment in the Alien franchise for some time. So, yesterday, I finally plopped down on the couch to revisit it since its initial release. And, dear lord, it is pretty much as bad as I remembered.

Every decision made in the script seems to be the wrong one. The attempts at humor fall flat, the xenomorphs have decided to get creative in their kills (one example is a soldier being lured into one of the xenomorphs containment cells and the xenomorph deciding to push a button and freeze the soldier so that he'll shatter into large chunks instead of just kill him, which makes the xenomorphs behave more like a slasher villain than anything else), characters make dumb decisions every step of the way (yes, this stranger is carrying a chestburster within him, but let's see if we can't escape with our lives, then perform surgery on him afterward). And, finally, the decision to introduce a new version of the xenomorphs is just misguided and its design pales in comparison to what has come before.

Even if this was a stand-alone feature instead of being connected to a beloved franchise, it would be bad. It's just worse because the first two movies are so good, and even the third is interesting if very flawed.

Grade: D-

LOL I completely agree. I put off seeing this until a year or two ago and, well, WOW what a mess. It seemed like the reviews when it was released were somewhat positive but I didn't see the same movie. And watching anything with Nick Tortelli is not easy to take seriously.

An_American_Family.jpg

[TerryE]

And watching anything with Nick Tortelli is not easy to take seriously.

Really? You've never watched "Blood Simple"?

[subie09lega]

Really? You've never watched "Blood Simple"?

I haven't seen it. Is Carla in it?

[bugen]

Fifty Shades of Grey

Christian Grey, billionaire and head of his own company at 27 years of age is scheduled to be interviewed by a journalist for a college newspaper. The day of the interview Kate, the journalist, has the flu and has her roommate, Anastasia fill in for her. Anastasia has an awkward interview with the young mogul and the chemistry between the two begins to work its magic, culminating in an excellent goodbye scene a few minutes into the film where two words are spoken as the elevator doors are closing:

“Anastasia.”

“Christian.”

The two begin circling each other over the next few days and after an initial non-disclosure agreement is signed, Christian makes his sexual proclivities known, stating he won’t touch her until she signs a contract outlining the do’s and don’ts of their activities in his ‘Play Room,’ and it's his S&M tendencies that drive the drama.

It’s a bit of a dirty secret, and few people at the studio seem to know, but Fifty Shades was originally written as fan fiction between Bella and Edward for Twilight (yes, I’ve read the Twilight books), and there’s a lawsuit Universal filed against an adult film company blocking a porno from production. The defense was the book was originally fan fiction, and is therefore public domain and they can make whatever porn they’d like. Universal eventually won out.

This movie is marketed with sex, as was the book, but it’s more about vulnerability. Anastasia becomes progressively attached to Christian, and vice versa, but his sexual demands and boundaries in other areas (ex: he won’t let her touch him) drive them further apart as they need each other more, and it’s at this level that the film succeeds, in no small part due to a compelling performance from Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia.

Fellas: Many of you will be able to enjoy this film, but most likely only if you’re by yourself. A bit less likely if you’re with your significant other. And for god’s sake don’t watch this one with your buddies. The pressure and uncomfortable tension between the two leads isn’t really something the modern male is well-suited for, at least not yet. We must maintain our bravado in company and can only admit our vulnerabilities when alone.

Ladies: You’re going to like this movie by yourself, with girlfriends, with boyfriends, with your spouses and probably even on airplanes or on your smart-watches.

Despite its male detractors, this is a billion-dollar movie in popularity and while I don’t see any reason for the dudes to rush out and buy it, it’s good nevertheless. Haters gonna hate.

3 stars

[srboone]

It Follows: This is one creepy film. I'm not completely sure what it's about, but I think it's about a curse transmitted sexually by juveniles. It causes a person to be followed by someone or thing (it constantly changes) that can only be seen by that person and it's object is to kill the person afflicted. The only way to get rid of it is to pass it on an other person by having sex, but even then it still may come back to follow you. Just don't expect a bunch of copulating teens getting slaughtered. Nothing is really satisfactorily explained and it's very low key, but the overall effect is staggering and it stays with you afterwards. It's original and scary (even the traditional gotcha shocks are pretty good--usually come after a good amount of dread and paranoia have built up). But it's also frustrating in that you really don't have a handle on what's going on.

4/5 (only because I can't help but think that there is more that could have been done with this premise)

[TJCams]

It Follows: This is one creepy film. I'm not completely sure what it's about, but I think it's about a curse transmitted sexually by juveniles. It causes a person to be followed by someone or thing (it constantly changes) that can only be seen by that person and it's object is to kill the person afflicted. The only way to get rid of it is to pass it on an other person by having sex, but even then it still may come back to follow you. Just don't expect a bunch of copulating teens getting slaughtered. Nothing is really satisfactorily explained and it's very low key, but the overall effect is staggering and it stays with you afterwards. It's original and scary (even the traditional gotcha shocks are pretty good--usually come after a good amount of dread and paranoia have built up). But it's also frustrating in that you really don't have a handle on what's going on.

4/5 (only because I can't help but think that there is more that could have been done with this premise)

I've heard good stuff about this one, and is one I want to see for sure.

[srboone]

Furious 7: No one goes to the F&F films for anything but the gorgeous cars and insane, physics-defying stunts, so from that standpoint, the film is a resounding success. In fact, despite what Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) tells his son, you will leave the theater believing that cars can fly. This time around, the Torretto clan has split the money they made from their adventures in F&F6 and have gone their separate ways. But Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the older brother of Owen Shaw, the criminal who was defeated in F&F6, is coming to seek revenge. Good excuse as any to bring the gang back together!

Much of the adrenaline that Dwyane Johnson brought to the franchise seems to have drained away (though that might be because he is side-lined for most of F7 in a bodycast), so the casting of Jason Staham held a lot of promise. Alas, though, after a slam-bang opening that announces Statham's presence (anyone who has seen a Statham movie KNOWS what THAT is like), his character fades into background thanks to an overly-convoluted plot. In fact, it's Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody, the head of a shadowy US covert agency that uses Dom et al to acquire the God's Eye spying device, who makes the biggest impression as a new character in the F&F world. It was also nice to see Ronda Rousey in another film, though I have my doubts about Michelle Rodriguez even holding her own against her in a girl fight.

But the biggest impression the film makes is the non-exploitative way the filmmakers handled Walker's untimely death.

Spoiler!

They declined to give Walker a hero's death in the film, though they had many opportunities.

Walker had shot about 85% of his scenes before tragedy struck, so his brothers and CGI were used to finish the movie (including one fight scene). The movie ends in a near-non-sequitur that is forgivable due to the honesty of it's emotional impact. Throughout the entire film, a sense of the tragic was present because everyone in the audience knew they were watching Walker's final appearance in an F&F film. The final moments of F7 deliver a fitting eulogy to Walker far beyond the obligatory "For Paul" that begins the ending credits.

3.5/5

NOTE: I saw this at an AMC Fork & Screen theater where you can eat dinner while watching the show. But, the waitresses are constantly walking around, people are getting up to go to the bathroom more often (since they can order drinks throughout the show) and people are taking the whole way through. So I won't be doing THAT again.

[bugen]

Thanks for your review. I've heard some of this from people who have seen the movie, and it seems like Universal did it right in a difficult spot. I know they pulled out all the stops and rewrote it, multiple times, after Mr. Walker's death. I also heard many in the theater were overwhelmed emotionally with how the film plays out in light of the tragedy.

I really want to see this. Thanks again!

[markgunnells]

It Follows was solid. It was flawed, I had some issues with it. It got repetitive, some of it didn't make sense (the guy who gave it to her THOUGHT he got it from a woman at a bar, but if he wasn't sure how did he know all the rules?), and while I loved the retro feel, it was weird that everything looked older like TVs, typewriters, phones, nurses' outfits, and yet there was that one strange clam-shell e-reader. I know the filmmaker was going for something there, but I just found it distracting and it pulled me out of the story. But what the film really did well was create an escalating atmosphere of dread that is so much creepier and stays with you longer than simple boo scares and gore. I thought it really offered something kind of unique in premise and old school in atmosphere.

We watched Open Water 2, and it had a killer premise and beginning, then just became laughably ridiculous.

[Dan Hocker]

It's not really a Movie, but Netflix's Daredevil is probably the best thing on Netflix right now. I may be a little bit jaded being a comic junkie but in my opinion it's the best of the Netflix original programming. It's gritty and "real", violent in a way a Marvel movie never could be. For most of the series I found myself rooting for the villain. Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of The Kingpin is right up there with Tom Hiddleston's Loki and Heath Ledger's Joker for best performances as a comic book villain. I'm probably overselling it a bit, but it was 13 hours well wasted this past weekend, and after reading "Alias" this past week I really can't wait to see what they do with Jessica Jones, which I believe is next in these Marvel Netflix shows.

[mhatchett]

When I was kid(1960s) Daredevil was my Marvel favorite. Haven't liked what they have done to him since, but I will give this a try