Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[srboone]

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: Nine years is approaching reboot territory by Hollywood's retarded mentality, but here we have a SEQUEL to 2005's Sin City. And it's just as stunningly stylish and hard-boiled as the original. But there's nothing new here, story or effect-wise. And the four stories aren't edited very well. The title is "A Dame to Kill For," but that story ends with more than 30 minutes to go. The original was put together better. Still, SCADTKF's lurid heart beats with an intensity rarely found in comic book movies and even though it's the sameoldsameold, it outshines the best of them. And the additon of Eva Green to the cast adds a large dose of eroticism to the whole affair.

All said and done, the best special effect might be the hair on Bruce Willis' head.

4/5

[Sock Monkey]

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: Nine years is approaching reboot territory by Hollywood's retarded mentality, but here we have a SEQUEL to 2005's Sin City. And it's just as stunningly stylish and hard-boiled as the original. But there's nothing new here, story or effect-wise. And the four stories aren't edited very well. The title is "A Dame to Kill For," but that story ends with more than 30 minutes to go. The original was put together better. Still, SCADTKF's lurid heart beats with an intensity rarely found in comic book movies and even though it's the sameoldsameold, it outshines the best of them. And the additon of Eva Green to the cast adds a large dose of eroticism to the whole affair.

All said and done, the best special effect might be the hair on Bruce Willis' head.

4/5

I've been meaning to see this, but will probably wait until it comes out on DVD. It's a shame that it isn't doing better in both box office and reviews as we'll probably never get another installment. I blame that on the almost decade long wait between installments. If this had come out 2-3 years after the original it probably would have done better. Well, I still look forward to seeing it!

[Sock Monkey]

Citadel:

Another movie that seems to have been on my To-Be-Watched list for what seems like forever. The film is centered around a young father who must take care of his infant daughter while dealing with debilitating agoraphobia after seeing his wife brutally attacked by a group of mysterious children. Things go from bad to worse when the mysterious children return.

Writer/Director Ciaran Foy eschews the use of wall-to-wall blood and guts in favor of developing a thick atmosphere of melancholy and dread resulting in a movie, that when violence does erupt, it’s like a sucker punch to the gut. One instance left my jaw dropped in shock.

The performances are uniformly strong, especially by the lead actor, Aneurin Bernard. The use of agoraphobia is not a new affliction to place on a character in movies, but most times it leaves me cold due to the inability of the actor or the director to make me truly understand the terror that someone with this phobia would face. Not in this case. Aneurin Bernard truly gives a wrenching performance in the scenes where he must venture outside the safety of his home.

All this being said, I can’t say the film is perfect. If taken scene by scene it works well, but as the movie transitions into its third act, there seems to be a slight disconnect from what comes before giving it a slightly different feel. A significant logic issue comes into play as well and some of the mythology gets muddied a bit as if Foy bit off a little more than he could chew. Overall, this is a small gem of a film that misses being completely awesome with a few missteps. I am looking forward to way Foy will do with his next project, Sinister 2. Grade: C+

I also rewatched Cabin in the Woods. This being the third time I’ve seen it, I knew all the beats the film would take. The one thing that surprised me though was just how fun and watchable the film is. It’s not just clever, but smart as well. The main dig at the film was that it just wasn’t scary and I still find that to hold true, but it matters to me less as this wasn’t meant to be “the ultimate horror movie” but rather a sharp look at horror films. I’m sure everyone has seen this by now, but if you haven’t, you really should. Grade: A

[Dan Hocker]

I've been meaning to see this, but will probably wait until it comes out on DVD. It's a shame that it isn't doing better in both box office and reviews as we'll probably never get another installment. I blame that on the almost decade long wait between installments. If this had come out 2-3 years after the original it probably would have done better. Well, I still look forward to seeing it!

Yea I'd say it's that and a lot of people may relate it to "The Spirit" a movie which tried to capitalize on the the success of the first Sin City, but was pretty terrible.

[Sock Monkey]

Yea I'd say it's that and a lot of people may relate it to "The Spirit" a movie which tried to capitalize on the the success of the first Sin City, but was pretty terrible.

I forgot about The Spirit. Yeah, that stinker might have left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. It's a shame because The Spirit had a lot of potential with the cast they lined up and the how much the source material is revered.

[Sock Monkey]

The Pact:

When her sister disappears shortly after their mother’s death, Annie must return home to unravel the mysteries that surround both the disappearance and her troubled childhood.

A mediocre affair from the get-go, there really isn’t much to recommend to anyone who’s seen or read more than a handful of ghost stories in their life. The film tries to offer a twist or two along the way and when the mystery was revealed, I was rather disappointed in the direction the script took it.

Characterization plays third fiddle to both the scares and the mystery plot, which is sad because some of the characters are actually pretty interesting. We have Stevie, the blind medium, who instead of being the stereotypical old grandmotherly-type living in seclusion is a twenty-something living on the bad side of town with her over-protective brother/”handler”, Giles. Even Casper Van Dien as the prerequisite police detective is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, we don’t get to really delve into these characters as we spend most of our time following Caity Lotz’s Annie trying solve the mystery.

To give writer/director Nicholas McCarthy some credit, the movie shows potential. He can build tension and deliver scares along with creating interesting characters and the acting is pretty good for a small budget film. Unfortunately, the script fails to do anything truly interesting with the characters or anything new for this type of story. Grade: C-

Continuing to be in a “rewatching” mood, so after enjoying the incredibly fun Guardians of the Galaxy, I decided to revisit another James Gunn genre flick, Slither. It’s been years since I saw the movie and I remember being rather underwhelmed. Upon finishing it the second time, I walked away with the same feeling.

There is no reason why I shouldn’t absolutely love this movie. I enjoy horror-comedies, monster movies, invasion flicks especially of the infection/pod-person variety, Nathan Fillion, and Michael Rooker. This should be my favorite movie of all time. Unfortunately, it isn’t. Both the humor and the scares don’t quite hit the mark and I actually found myself rather bored near the end. Oh, well. At least I gave it another shot. Grade: C-

[srboone]

Boyhood: An unprecedented cinematic event, this film charts the 12-year journey of a boy named Mason growing up in Texas from the ages of 6 to 18. Writer director Linklater reunited with his pricipal actors every year for twelve years to film this narrative masterpiece. It's astonishing to see not only Mason (Ellar Coltrane) delvelop from a sullen, thoughtful kid into an enigmatic young man about to embark on the adventure of adulthood; but also to see stars I've grown up with (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette) age before my eyes without the use of makeup and special effects. It caused me to reflect on my own upbringing and the decisions that I made or were made for me by my parents that created the person I am today. The message of the film is going to be different for each viewer, but for me it was simple: that if you follow your heart, everything will be alright in the end. It's the kind of movie Hollywood can't make (You want HOW much to make a movie that will be out WHEN?!?!!--and scenes of family life that would be over-dramatized in a Hollywood pic are just everyday events here) and it outshines evey Hollywood product this year. It's 3 hours that end too soon and demands repeated viewings.

This is 2014's best film so far and, hopefully, will bring Richard Linklater his long-overdue Oscar.

5/5

[subie09lega]

Great review Squire, I've been wanting to see this one.

[srboone]

Thanks, subie!

Another amazing aspect of this film is that Linklater had the instincts to single Coltrane out at the age of six for his movie. Coltrane turned in a very compelling performance (12 of them if you want to look at it that way). I mean, what if the kid had turned out to be a terrible actor?

Also, the film was shot in only 39 days over the twelve years.

The movie is titled "Boyhood," but it's also about motherhood and sisterhood and, to a lesser extent, fatherhood.

I hope you get to see it one the big screen.

[srboone]

Nothing interesting out this week, so I took a trip down memory lane with an entry in the "My Greatest Movie Hop" Category:

Ghostbusters: Back in theaters for one week to celebrate it's 30th anniversary, in time to save me from a boring movie week. One Tuesday afternoon in 1984 (I know it was a Tuesday because that was cheap matinee day), I paid $1.75 to see this movie. It was on the bottom floor of the theater and afterwards I went upstairs to the restrooms. As I came out, I heard the trailers for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom starting up, so I wandered into the upstairs theater and stayed for a second movie. After that one ended, I went back downstairs intending to leave, but noticed no employee in the lobby. I waited at the concession stand and eventually a person showed up. As I bought a soda, the girl asked me what movie I was seeing. Looking up at the billboard, I noticed a movie in the downstairs theater was going to start in 15 minutes, so I smiled and replied: "Gremlins." A great night at the movies for less than $2!

ANYWAAAAAY....My feelings about the movie remain the same: The special effects are pretty shoddy for 1984 and Ernie Hudson's "4th Ghostbuster" still has a token-ish feel. But Murray's oneliners and some great writing overcome these obstacles. And Kudos to the late Ramis for imagaining an end-of-the-world scenario using a giant marshmallow man. My favorite scene is the still-university-employed Murray chasing skirt using a fiendishly devised ESP shock therapy test; my favorite line is delivered by Ramis (after crossing the streams and vanquishing Zule): "I feel like the floor of a taxicab!" And even after 30 years, I was the only one in the theater who laughed when Dan Akyroyd exclaimed "Shh! Listen! Do you smell something?"

4/5

[bugen]

Cool write-up, and what a great value and trip back in time!

My favorite line might be, "You're right, no human being would stack books like this."

[TerryE]

My favorite line is: "Yes, this man has no dick." I miss that line on regular TV.

Oh, I also loved in that same scene: " But if I'm right, and we can stop this thing... Lenny, you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters."

[srboone]

A Walk Among The Tombstones: This is one dark film. Liam Neeson is a sort-of-private dick who is asked to locate the persons who killed a drugpin's kidnapped wife and sent her back in pieces when he haggled over the ransom. It's a violent slow-burn neo-noir that is as grim and humorless as it's title suggests. No ultra-high body count or one-liners here (and it's distinctly misogynistic). But it's also stylish and smart--the tension hits you in the gut and stays with you afterwards. The whole thing is about the illusion of redemption. And Neeson is perfect in the role of Matt Scudder. There are some stumbles along the way, though: flashbacks are awkward and slow down the deliberate narrative pace (they occur early on and the film starts and stops a couple of times; but once it gets going...), a subplot involving Neeson's homeless associate misfires and the voice-over narration in the finale falls flat. It will be hard to watch for some people, but if you like this kind of fare (and I do), it's a real winner.

Just don't ask me to watch it again anytime soon.
4/5

[mhatchett]

Just like I had a problem with Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, I have a problem with Neeson as Matthew Scudder. Love the Block Books, however, I'll watch the Movie and try to enjoy it as a movie, not a representation of the book. Did you like 8mm, creepy for sure.
MDH

[srboone]

I8mm was unsettling unsettling for sure, but I didn't like it as much as AWATT. It was ugly and nihilistic whereas AWATT was well-made and intelligent as well as nihilistic.