Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Theli]

I tend to think it's just more the trend of late. Remaking the movie for a new generation. Also Hollywood is nothing if not greedy. So if there's money to be made on it, expect it to get made.

It's not really a trend now, it has always been a trend in Hollywood. It's just that now we are getting 70's and 80's remakes, so they seem more fresh to us.This just seems like the right time for this movie to be remade. it's 40th anniversary, the media scrutiny on bullying (they're even passing new laws here to stop bullying).

[srboone]

Well, if I hadn't seen the original or if I was new to the horror genre, I'd probably have liked it more. As for the time being right...I've always said that every generation has the right to prove to the older generation that the fears the older harbors about the younger are well-founded.

It still was an unnecessary remake.

[ozmosis7]

They had the girl who plays Carrie on a local radio show and I have to admit, I'm intrigued. I'm not sure I'll hit this one on the big screen, but definitely a rental as soon as it hits iTunes. Still waiting to see Gravity. My son's baseball is almost finished, so I'll have a bit more freedom once that happens. I did see This Is The End, though. Not much to say about the movie, as it was awful. But it had those few moments that were hilarious, nothing more than that for the wife and I.

[srboone]

I saw an interview itn CHole Grace Moretz and was struck by the fact that...she talks like a 16 year old! She spoke of her awe at King's writings and things that she was just discovering with a refreshing naivte. It made me want to see the movie even more. She struck me as someone who is honestly in love with what is her chosen career. I look forward to Laggies, The Equalizer, Sils Maria, and Dark Places--movies coming out in 2014 with her in them (even though one or two of them sound like chick flicks which I'll probably skip).

[Theli]

Carrie (2013); It was a decent remake/re-interpretation of the book. They try to modernize it by adding the social media aspect, but really it's almost thrown in as an after thought. I am not opposed to trying to make it more relevant. I think the director should have explored that aspect more, or stuck to it's original time period. The cast is great, but something about the directing left me wanting. Nothing on the Depalma adaptation, but in some ways truer to Stephen King's original novel. After watching it I have to agree with Squire, it felt unnecessary.

[srboone]

I thought one of the students webcasting the chaos live from inside the prom until he/she died would have been a neat touch.

[Theli]

I thought one of the students webcasting the chaos live from inside the prom until he/she died would have been a neat touch.

Other than the end they never show the effect of the video that was made on Carrie. It's all about the event itself, and not the aftermath. They kept Carrie as a stone age Christian, but I would think even most fundamentalist have a computer or access to one, or they could have shown her discover it at school. She sees it at the end, and it's supposed to be shocking, but that whole aspect just felt very thrown in, and not planned. She has no time to process the video in the last scene, to brood on it, instead she sees Tommy unconscious and "snaps". Yet she still seems in perfect control, the Depalma version was truly chaotic. Which to me is a shame because there was the opportunity to make a movie that would stand out as an important film of it's time, like the original Carrie did.

[Sock Monkey]

After finishing Trouble with the Curve, I had to wonder why anyone thought that this was a good movie to make. Everything in this movie was by-the-numbers: the characters were all copies of other characters we've seen and liked better in other movies and the script took no chances and held no surprises. The only thing that made this movie worthwhile were the slew of great actors they got for this film: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, John Goodman, and Robert Patrick just to name a few. When the credits rolled, I was left wondering what had made them all want to do this movie, besides maybe a paycheck. Okay film if you're a huge fan of sport flicks or any of the cast.

[Theli]

Just watched the Lords of Salem. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it sure did deliver. It's not tied into Zombie's previous horror movies, and in many ways stands apart in themes and execution. This is an occult horror movie, and does not have a lot of gore. It focuses more on surreal and disturbing scenes. The story is interesting though nothing to unpredictable or original, it's just that it hasn't been visited in years. It reminded me a lot of movies like Suspiria or Alucarda, and other 70's occult movies.

[srboone]

Just a reminder.

Thursday, 24Oct at 7 pm, is the next Rifftrax Live! event. Those certifiable MST3K types will be riffing Night of the Living Dead. This is a one time showing (no encore is planned as of yet.) Sure to be a fun evening.

http://www.rifftrax.com/home

Scroll to bottom right of site.

[Theli]

Very cool, I will try to catch it if I am not busy.

[Sock Monkey]

Sinister: I had deliberately not seen this movie when it came out because I wanted to save something for my annual Halloween horror movie watching. I make my wife sit through anywhere from 5 to 8 horror movies the week or so leading up to Halloween. It has become a tradition for us, even though my wife does not like scary movies one bit. I picked this one to lead off our list this year, thinking that with Ethan Hawke and some supernatural aspects that this would be a more Hollywood-ized, less intense movie to start out with. Yeah, I was wrong. I don't know if it was lowered expectations going into this or what, but I found this movie to be pretty intense and claustrophobic. I was surprised at how dark the movie was, both literally and figuratively (I actually wondered at one point why Ethan Hawke doesn't like to turn on any lights).

Now, there is quite a bit of cliches littered through out this film (struggling writer moves into house where horrible crime was committed to jump start career, struggling writer drinks too much, etc) and some of the supporting cast was there just to supply exposition. But I was surprised at how some of the twists and turns the film took and thought the ending was rather brave.

Overall, it was really creepy and rather disturbing and not too bad a way to start off my Halloween season. Grade: B+

[Teriw]

Couldn't decide whether to put this here or in the Carrie thread since it's more of an excited rant than an actual review..ended up here don't know why. Lol

Carrie was fantastic! I think if you went to see a horror movie you would be disappointed because Carrie was never a horror story to begin with in any version. Cept maybe the 90's crap. I don't know. If you are either a king fan, a chloe grace Moretz fan or a juliette Moore fan than you have to like it. The chick who made this movie brought justice to the characters. Made you care about what happened to them. Character development is a huge part of kings work and why his stuff can be lengthy but it's what makes it good. They really brought out the crazy in Margaret white, she did it in a different way than the book but the way the book did it was not doable on screen. The writer, director and Moore brought so much to her character and made her a much bigger part to the story than any other Margaret...except kings version which was great and the same in the end. Chloe made a terrific Carrie as I thought she would, she's good in everything she does. Her expressions during the "incident" were perfect, she really made it look like her power took effort and before the incident she was so innocent and perfect for the role and was good enough to twist it all around and be psychotic later. Amazing. I think she is my new favorite actress. Normally I can take or leave a female actress but her range is great and I'd put her right up there with johnny Depp and Sam Rockwell who are my favorites

And sorry if my honest opinion offends anyone.

[srboone]

RiffTrax Live!: Night of the Living Dead: Another terrific night of laughter from the crackheads at RiffTrax. The laughs weren't as delious as they were for Starship Troopers, but they were consistent, if strained in places. The movie itself shows it's age, but is still entertaining.

Favorite riff: Kevin Murphy (as Mike Nelson and Bill Corbitt are saying "Brains....brains"): "Bangs...bangs....I know, I talking about that large forehead. She needs bangs!" (referring to Judith O'Dea as Barbra).

RiffTrax: 4.5/5

NotLD: 4/5

[srboone]

The Shining: Watching this on the big screen was a real treat. The overwhelming nature of the film was really magnified. The score didn't seem to be as sharp and powerful as it is on DVD/BD (especially during the openning credits), but...WOW! And on the big screen, aspects of Nicholson's performance are brought into focus that I wasn't able to discern from the home video versions; most significantly, his deeper facial expresions and tics that signify when he is lucid and when he's in the thrall of the Overlook. Nicholson did NOT portray his character as crazy from the get go--his performance here really is one of the best of his career. And as I watched Duvall, I imagined Kubrik off to the side yelling at her and calling her names. I have a new appreciation for hers and Danny Lloyd's performances. Not great ones, but very effective.

5/5

The version that was shown was the 2:22 minute version (which omits the scene in which Wendy is told that Jack's body couldn't be found). Better than the 1:59 version.

Wednesday is the next (and last) day this is being shown at AMC theaters, for those thinking about going.