Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Sock Monkey]

Die Hard 3

I'm thinking 2 out of 5 stars. This one wasn't very good at all.

The first DIE HARD is one of my absolute favorite movies.  I think it was the first R-rated movie I ever saw.  One of the reasons that the first one works so well is the rather grounded nature of Willis's John McClane.  It's hard to see in the later films as the character becomes more of a caricature, but the first film works hard to undermine some of the traditional masculine stereotypes: McClane's fear of flying, the fact that he let his wife move to Los Angeles thinking that she'd wind up coming back home and instead she excels and he is having to attempt (rather poorly at the beginning of the film) to bridge that gap in their relationship, he dismisses John Wayne in favor of Roy Rogers, and actually has to rely on another man (Reginald VelJohnson) for emotional support during the ordeal.  It isn't touch-feely by any means, but when the film came out in 1988, we'd already had ultra-masculine action films like COMMANDO and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II (Not including FIRST BLOOD because that's a whole other beast) that both came out in 1985.  Couple this with Bruce Willis in the lead, who at the time was known as a comedic actor and not an action star and the film just has a slightly different flavor.  And that isn't even touching on Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber!

As for the sequels, I actually think that the third (DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE) is the best of the lot and, to me, it's the last time that one of the sequels feels like it could possibly exist in the same world as the original.  I also love the interaction with Samuel L. Jackson's character.  It is far more comedic and lighthearted than DIE HARD 2 (I always thought the addition of DIE HARDER was rather dumb), but I actually kind of like it.  LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD feels far less like a Die Hard film and I'd probably like it a bit more if it was one of Willis's standalone action films like THE LAST BOY SCOUT or STRIKING DISTANCE.  When it comes to A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, the film and Willis's character doesn't even seem to be in the same universe as the original.  

If I had my way, this would be my Christmas viewing leading up to the big day:

DIE HARD
LETHAL WEAPON
KISS KISS BANG BANG
THE NICE GUYS

[sholloman81]

Die Hard 3

I'm thinking 2 out of 5 stars. This one wasn't very good at all.

It's been forever since I've seen it, but I don't remember caring much for it either although it did have moments of humor. To me, Die Hard is a classic. I try to forget the other films even exist as they were always diminishing returns on a film that should have been left alone.

[Ben Staad]

Die Hard 3

I'm thinking 2 out of 5 stars. This one wasn't very good at all.

[Ben Staad]

Hahah. It's really such a fun movie. Moved unto Die Hard 2 which isn't so great but still fun enough.

Love me some Die Hard! It's such an awesome action movie. Hans Gruber still might be my all-time favorite movie villain.

Crap, now I'm quoting dialogue in my head and want to watch the movie, maybe after work...

[sholloman81]

Annual re-watch of Die Hard last night. Still a solid movie, bubbie. Four out of Five stars.

Love me some Die Hard! It's such an awesome action movie. Hans Gruber still might be my all-time favorite movie villain.

Crap, now I'm quoting dialogue in my head and want to watch the movie, maybe after work...

[Ben Staad]

Annual re-watch of Die Hard last night. Still a solid movie, bubbie. Four out of Five stars.

[brlesh]

Saw Godzilla Minus One the other night and loved it.

A well told story that harkens back to the original 1950’s movie.

Great effects (I believe they were a combination of cgi and practical which maintained the look of the original Godzilla, but better (obviously not a man in a suit tromping on models)).

Parts of the story were rather cheesy, but even the cheesy parts (maybe especially the cheesy parts) gave the film a 1950-ish monster movie feel to it.

A must-see for any Godzilla fans out there.

B

[sholloman81]

Blue Beetle: There's constant chatter about "superhero fatigue" and if the genre is on the cusp of dying off or, at least, giving up its throne of box office dominance. While I think that it is only inevitable that their place at the top of the box office will give way to something else, I don't think that the genre is necessarily going the way of the dodo. I think instead that people are just tired of the formula and mostly the origin story. Which is a long-winded way of saying that Blue Beetle was perfectly fine. And that's kind of the problem. It's "perfectly fine" translates into a sheen of generic superhero shenanigans that fail to anchor itself in any real emotions. The jokes aren't bad, but they don't land well enough to get more than a chuckle and, frankly, there was just too many characters to properly develop any of them beyond broad sketches, including our lead, who is likeable but the movie is so overstuffed that he gets lost in the plot. I will say that the costume looked pretty darn good in comparison to how it could have been. And, honestly, they did do a good job working in the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle into the story, even down to a comics accurate costume, a box of his favorite cookies left at his computer (Oreos in the movie, but named "Chocos" in the comics), AND we did get his ship, which was awesome. But once again, completely overstuffing the movie to the detriment of character development.

All that being said, I liked the movie well enough, but it also highlights the need for superhero movies to either innovate more in plot or be able to find a way past the origin story. Grade: C

This review is about what I was expecting for this movie unfortunately. While the "superhero fatigue" thing is real, I also think it is a bit simple and that there are a lot of reasons that these properties aren't doing as well anymore. Personally, one of the biggest recent turnoffs has been the move of properties to streaming services. Especially irksome are the "exclusive" series that then tie-into movies or other shows. I do not stream tv and do not plan to ever do so in the future unless truly forced. I use live tv and physical media primarily. So, instead of prompting me to buy their streaming service, they've basically turned me off of these properties going forward altogether. For example, I actually liked the first Captain Marvel movie and saw it in the theaters, but I have no desire to see the sequel since I have no way of watching Ms. Marvel or Wandavision beforehand. The other main turnoff for me has been that the films have become too cookie-cutter, as you mention above. From their looks, to plot, to the humor, etc., they mostly feel like templates now, which makes sense as that's a very Disney/Corporate thing to do. I'm sure that I'll still see the occasional superhero movie if it looks good enough, but they've definitely lost their luster and are no longer must see for me. 

[Sock Monkey]

Blue Beetle: There's constant chatter about "superhero fatigue" and if the genre is on the cusp of dying off or, at least, giving up its throne of box office dominance. While I think that it is only inevitable that their place at the top of the box office will give way to something else, I don't think that the genre is necessarily going the way of the dodo. I think instead that people are just tired of the formula and mostly the origin story. Which is a long-winded way of saying that Blue Beetle was perfectly fine. And that's kind of the problem. It's "perfectly fine" translates into a sheen of generic superhero shenanigans that fail to anchor itself in any real emotions. The jokes aren't bad, but they don't land well enough to get more than a chuckle and, frankly, there was just too many characters to properly develop any of them beyond broad sketches, including our lead, who is likeable but the movie is so overstuffed that he gets lost in the plot. I will say that the costume looked pretty darn good in comparison to how it could have been. And, honestly, they did do a good job working in the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle into the story, even down to a comics accurate costume, a box of his favorite cookies left at his computer (Oreos in the movie, but named "Chocos" in the comics), AND we did get his ship, which was awesome. But once again, completely overstuffing the movie to the detriment of character development.

All that being said, I liked the movie well enough, but it also highlights the need for superhero movies to either innovate more in plot or be able to find a way past the origin story. Grade: C

[Sock Monkey]

Finally got around to watching the first season of Yellowjackets. Glad I gave it a try as I thought it was fantastic. Loved the dueling timelines, and all of the actors were fantastic. Definitely haven't seen many shows like this on television. Will probably give season 2 a try soon. Am hoping that there isn't a noticeable decline in quality.

Oh, man. I believe I've posted about this before on the forum, but I have officially tapped out after the second season. I think that the first season was really good, but by the time I finished the second season I felt like the train had gone off the rails. I'd really like to hear your thoughts once you finish the second season.

[Ben Staad]

Hadn't heard of this before. I see it's on a service I don't have but glad to hear it's good.

Finally got around to watching the first season of Yellowjackets. Glad I gave it a try as I thought it was fantastic. Loved the dueling timelines, and all of the actors were fantastic. Definitely haven't seen many shows like this on television. Will probably give season 2 a try soon. Am hoping that there isn't a noticeable decline in quality.

[sholloman81]

Finally got around to watching the first season of Yellowjackets. Glad I gave it a try as I thought it was fantastic. Loved the dueling timelines, and all of the actors were fantastic. Definitely haven't seen many shows like this on television. Will probably give season 2 a try soon. Am hoping that there isn't a noticeable decline in quality.

[Sock Monkey]

Man, I'm behind on posting these two, but I figured better late than never.

Halloween Horror Movie #14: THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER

This was a re-watch for me and I recalled being really impressed with the film when upon the initial viewing, but I think that the movie plays even better the second time around. Oz Perkins's tale about the creepy events surrounding two girls that are left behind in their boarding school over winter break relies mostly on atmosphere and the slowly building sense of dread. Couple that with a dash of editing time jumps (especially those during a pivotal reveal) can make the viewer focus on trying to figure things out versus let it wash over them, but on a second viewing with all of the guessing of what's going on out of the way (even though that is fun), I was just struck on how well-crafted the film was and how perfectly restrained Kiernan Shipka's performance is. The film is not for everyone (and it wasn't really for my wife), but those that appreciate these slow burns, it is a compelling film.

Grade: B+ (Watched on Blu-Ray, also streaming on Netflix)

Halloween Horror Movie #15: TALK TO ME

I had heard all kinds of buzz surrounding this film, the latest horror offering from A24, and was rather keen to check it out, saving it for the prestigious Halloween night slot (plans went sideways and we didn't get to watch it until November 1st, but I'm still counting it, darn it!). The film follows Mia, a teenage girl whose mother had committed suicide a couple years prior, who joins her friend and her friend's younger brother at a party where a severed, embalmed hand is used as a gateway to allow people to be possessed by the spirits of the dead. Mia allows herself to be possessed and then things go sideways. The first half of this movie is absolutely fantastic. There's an interesting amount of world-building, the effects used when a person is possessed are creepy and the possessions juxtaposed next to the rambunctious teenagers watching all this as if it is just a gag is unsettling. The premise is also an interesting metaphor for drug abuse. And when that violence hits, it really hits. Unfortunately, the second half seemed to muddy the mythology's waters quite a bit leaving me a little confused as to how each haunting element led to the next, taking me out of the film. Since a prequel was purportedly filmed concurrently with this one and a sequel also on the way, I'm sure more of the mythology is going to get ironed out. The first half was so solid that my grade is mostly based off of that.

Grade: B (Watched on Blu-Ray)

[dannyboy121070]

Five Nights at Freddies...

Well it was a movie which was too long. It was okay, a little empty, but decent enough. I think if they trimmed this down by 30 minutes I would have been much happier.

2 out of 5 stars.

There really isn't much to discuss with this one. A lot of head scratchers, assumptions, and lack of info lead to a miss. On a side note I have no idea about the video game this movie was developed from.

 My son has been crazy about the games for years, so we took him to see it last week. He loved it (He's since watched it again on Peacock), and I thought it was a lot better than I was expecting. Sadly, it was a LOT better than any of the Horror films I've seen in theaters this year (The new EXORCIST and INSIDIOUS films, along with a few others I've mercifully forgotten....). If you have Peacock, you can see it for free, so give it a try, if you're interested.

[Ben Staad]

I am on board with you. My frustration with Smile is that it could have been very good. It was there and so very close to being something memorable for a good reason.

Man, I actively hated SMILE. The contrast of my response to the movie versus the general consensus was so marked that I began to think I had been burned out on horror movies.