Last Movie You Watched

[silvermoonlight]

Hobbit battle of the five armies.

I confess I enjoyed the first two films but the third has such bad pacing and you can tell that studio's meddling really hurt it so much that its limping behind all of the other films. I'm not mad at all at Pete Jackson as it wasn't his fault as the studio forced him to shoot at a super fast pace and he ill during shooting and had no time to sit and think things through in depth and it just makes me sad as I know this man is a great director and loved his LOTR movies and I felt he was denied making a great set of films due to them. Don't get me wrong there are fun moments in this film and some enjoyable fights it just sad that its really over shadowed by some real sore points.

SPOILER: Show

On the movie though I loved that Jackson put in Tauriel but hate that the studios forced a romance with her and Kili's character through out the films and in the last film it shows why it doesn't work. As it's sudden and out of know where going from we are friends getting to know each and getting past our races racisms to I'm in love with you come with me leave the elves behind. Tauriel is also denied her revenge on the white Orc's second in command who kills him as its stolen from her by Legolas which sadly undermines her story in that she isn't even allowed to win when it comes to loosing a loved one or have a violent revenge moment.

The other big problem in this movie is Thorin because he starts to loose it in this movie and gets gold sickness and I had real trouble trying to sympathize with his character because in the other movie he wasn't very nice to Bilbo at all and belittled him so when his downfall came I just couldn't root for him. Also his madness is never fully explained everyone goes oh its gold sickness like his grandfather. Yet you know Bilbo has the one ring and you know from the previous movies what it does to people and how it messes them up and your never sure because you also had Smaug saying that the Arkenstone will drive him mental. Even less is explained about how he suddenly manages to over come this as it portrayed as him suddenly breaking it's hold in less than a minute which makes no sense as it's an implied magic mental illness.

[El Squibbonator]

So, I watched the Dark Tower movie. From the way people talk about it, you'd think it was some sort of cinematic atrocity, along the lines of Plan 9 from Outer Space or The Emoji Movie. But I've watched it (keep in mind, I'm a major Dark Tower nut) and. . . it's not that bad at all. True, it isn't faithful to the books, but given how complicated they are I don't know if a movie, or even a series of movies, possibly could be. And within its constraints it does a good job of capturing the spirit of the books, even if it doesn't follow them to the letter.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

Well, I'm super late to this party, but I just watched Rogue One on Netflix. Have to say, I'm glad I didn't waste my money on it in the theater. It was a very boring film, and as much as I disliked Force Awakens (or a NEw Hope 2.0), at least I wasn't bored until the final battle scene. While the graphics were amazing (Death Star in HD, Tarkin, the AT-ATs), the plot was kinda shaky with the whole "I built in a very obvious flaw that none of my overseers looked at because I feel guilty working for space nazis" and the alliance's seeming lack of gumption to go follow through and steal the plans for the superweapon in the first place. The blind guy who believes in the force, yet isn't a Jedi... calling bullshit, that's not how the force works. This isn't Harry Potter, muttering about the force doesn't make it protect you from weapons fire, and I feel Disney stole the character from Netflix's Marco Polo named "Hundred Eyes" who is a blind monk who kicks ass. Then that whole scene with the communications wire towards the end, and it running out of cable seemed stolen from BTTF and executed poorly. Then all those scenes from the trailers and teasers not being in the movie is just unfortunate, cause I was hoping to see Jyn vs TIE and feel kinda cheated.

The characters were also forgettable and fairly one-dimensional, and considering they all died anyway, at least there wasn't any emotional attachment. Although, this band of brothers portrayed in the movie seems to have boned quite quickly within a few short days (and barely a week or so before the Death Star gets exploded). Finally, with all the cameos eating away at screentime for the main characters of the movie; Red and Gold Leader (yet no Porkins or Biggs, or even poor Wedge), the former Red 5, Mon Mothma, Tarkin, Bail Organa, that forced C-3PO/R2-D2 cameo, and Vader's badass appearances, it eats away at the plot of the movie and distracts from the large plot holes that exist. Also, I feel Forest Whitaker was completely wasted.

TL;DR: Rogue One is the most expensive plot hole filler I've ever seen with even more plot holes than the one its trying to fill to a question no one really cared about before.

[Ray]

Chris Stuckman had a similar criticism. He calls it a 'background noise movie" a movie he puts on in the background to keep him awake while he's editing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GamrRXyIUs

[silvermoonlight]

Shin Godzilla

Finally got to see this as they are doing special showings in the UK cinema's and I gotta say it's an amazing movie in the sense that it makes Godzilla terrifying again. The film is played out as if the events were happening for real and shows the characters in the government trying to stop it, it is hilarious in places yet chilling in others as you just feel sorry for the military when there throwing everything they have at Godzilla and its doing nothing and unlike other Godzilla movies there is no military hero its a group effort with everyone putting there ideas in. You can so tell this is Anno movie in how he frames the scenes and there is even a point where one of the classic Evangelion songs plays.

SPOILER: Show

The only thing I wish is that they'd just cut down the government scenes a little in the second half and focused on the ground level with the civilians after Godzilla attacks for the first time which so devastating and chilling as it pans back and shows this godlike with glowing red eyes surrounded by flames and fire and this haunting song plays in the back ground. As I don't want give any more spoilers I would recommend everyone go see it who hasn't already as it's really is a throw back to the original 1954 film in that it's all about real tension and people being on edge and fighting odds that are massive and the ending also implies that this is not over.

[MuscleRobo]

So, last night I saw 淵に立つ, Standing on the Edge, which for some reason the english release has renamed Harmonium. It won Cannes 2016 apparently but I just saw it because I go out of my way to see any Japanese film I can in a theater. I have to say it was extremely well made, better than the last Japanese film I saw at the local art school. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a mystery drama so I don't want to spoil too much about it. It was a very tense and serious family drama but not in a relatable way? A lot of family drama have the same sort of basic plot lines but in this many of the characters are portrayed mysteriously and you are left wondering "Why did that happen?" "Why did they react that way?" Lots of tense moments where I was thinking to myself if this were a manga or book I'd be turning the pages so quickly since I was dying to know the answers. I suppose to at least give a basic plot summary if you were wondering about the overarching story it's about a father who works as a metal worker in his own garage inviting an old friend of his he hadn't seen in years to live and work with him after he comes back into his life. I highly reccomend the film to anyone here but certainly have strong reservations to reccomending it to any sort of general audience.

[Mr. Tines]

Shin Godzilla

Finally got to see this as they are doing special showings in the UK cinema's

Same here -- caught the one showing at the Arts Picturehouse last night -- scheduled for the biggest screen, it was at about 25% capacity. The version we saw was distributed by Madman.

I did notice at one point that Anno snuck in an NCC-1701, and at another point, those Atlantean Angel-sealing glyphs.

The first Godzilla was pretty damn cute, I thought, more like an over-eager (and very large) puppy than "encased in a block of ice, evil incarnate, waiting only to rise again, waiting to take those giant footsteps".

Now, I know that in a Godzilla movie, there can't have been Godzilla movies -- "we only got one hit on 'Gojira'" -- but I can't quite believe a contemporary Japan without a kaiju tradition that they would allude to in such circumstances (even if I can understand Toho not wanting to burn one of their properties by using its explicit name as a fictional entity within the movie).

The ending is indeed blatant sequel bait; it will be interesting to see if one happens.

[El Squibbonator]

but I can't quite believe a contemporary Japan without a kaiju tradition that they would allude to in such circumstances .

Well, there's always Gamera.

[Ray]

Well it's always a given in a lot of these modern Kaiju movies that film history had to have been different. Because if it wasn't it makes no sense that people wouldn't understand how to beat/defuse a situation right out of the movies they've seen. It's like Zombie apocalypse fiction, you have to take it for a given that in a Zombie movie survivors don't know that Zombies can die from a bullet to the head, or that getting bit turns you into one. Otherwise they wouldn't act like morons in a situation.

Unless of course, you're going for a more meta approach to a genre (Cabin In The Woods, Deadpool, Collosal), or completely flipping the script of the typical tropes associated with such (Resident Evil and it's ten foot tall, tentacle sprouting Super Zombies) so that even characters familiar with the genre wouldn't know what to do in a given situation.

[Mr. Tines]

Well, there's always Gamera.

Gamera is a Kadokawa property not a Toho one.

Because if it wasn't it makes no sense that people wouldn't understand how to beat/defuse a situation right out of the movies they've seen.

Early on--

Young guy: "It's some sort of gigantic creature."
Older politician: "Son, you've watched too many monster movies."

In the brainstorming session

Anyone: "Oxygen Destroyer? WTF is an Oxygen Destroyer? Now, about disrupting its heat-exchanger mechanism...

[Chuckman]

I watched King Arthur: Sherlock Holmes Edition tonight.

I was at once intrigued by how bold it was in casting aside the tropes of the King Arthur movie, being neither "historical" like Fuqua's turd or "historical" like the other movies.

It felt like an 80's action-fantasy in the style of Dragonslayer, Krull, or Ladyhawke, but with updated special effects. Unfortunately the special effects were the only thing that were updated. It didn't bring anything new to the table, and even worse, it doesn't have enough respect for the films that it's aping to homage or reference them even subtly, preferring to take on its own visual aesthetic that's unique... except it's not, it's dreadfully boring and every visual in the movie is cribbed from something that was made since 2000, like Jackson's LOTR films and the Witcher games and, of all things, fucking He-Man.

Somewhere there's a good movie waiting to be polished out of this crap, cleverly hidden beneath bland visuals and an uninspired plot. A non-traditional Arthurian legend adaptation that paints Arthur as a revolutionary leader of a band of insurgents plotting heist-film like black operations in a world that echoes history while not particularly caring to be anything but a sword and sorcery setting would be a great movie. Unfortunately everyone involved in this was bored and lazy, including the actors who are either goobers who can't emote or resent playing an insulting racist stock character.

Summary: Could be a good movie. Instead, it's a movie about Geralt of Rivia fighting his evil uncle who sacrifices his loved ones to Urusula, Sexy Ursula, and Other Sexy Ursula to gain the power to morph into a weird hybrid of Skeletor and Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer and summon those haradrim war oliphants from LOTR out of mountains for some reason.

[silvermoonlight]

Same here -- caught the one showing at the Arts Picturehouse last night -- scheduled for the biggest screen, it was at about 25% capacity. The version we saw was distributed by Madman.

I did notice at one point that Anno snuck in an NCC-1701, and at another point, those Atlantean Angel-sealing glyphs.

The first Godzilla was pretty damn cute, I thought, more like an over-eager (and very large) puppy than "encased in a block of ice, evil incarnate, waiting only to rise again, waiting to take those giant footsteps".

Now, I know that in a Godzilla movie, there can't have been Godzilla movies -- "we only got one hit on 'Gojira'" -- but I can't quite believe a contemporary Japan without a kaiju tradition that they would allude to in such circumstances (even if I can understand Toho not wanting to burn one of their properties by using its explicit name as a fictional entity within the movie).

The ending is indeed blatant sequel bait; it will be interesting to see if one happens.

That's where I saw the film as well at my local Arts Picture house though they are doing another showing on 14th August as the first was really popular. No word of a lie every single person laughed at the weird cute puppy version of Godzilla and the scene where there going it won't make land and some guys comes over and goes it's made land just got even more laughs. I thought that last frame of the ending was unsettling also from what I've read on wiki we won't see that sequel till 2020 which kind of sucks because I would rather see the sequel to this than the two other US movies Godzilla vs king kong and the second Godzilla movie.

[Mr. Tines]

As I expected might be the case, we watched the exact same showing.

[El Squibbonator]

Gamera is a Kadokawa property not a Toho one.

That was kind of my point. The Toho kaiju aren't the only ones, so even if the characters do mention "monster movies", they aren't necessarily breaking the fourth wall.

[Sachi]

I watched Shutter Island for the second time last night. Much more enjoyable a film with repeated viewings. I'm not sure if it was the TV I was viewing it on that affected it, but the surrealness of camera angles really stood out to me. I only bring up the TV itself as a possible factor, because I watched Rogue One on it, and had somewhat similar feelings regarding the set pieces and angles. Anyway, the water/fire imagery stood out to me a lot more this time. Sets looked like obvious sets, however it worked to make the surrealism of the film work. You can't trust what you see, and it makes you question what you see. I appreciate this movie much more now.

[imprimatur13]

^
What sort of TV set do you have, that does that sort of thing?

[Sachi]

^
What sort of TV set do you have, that does that sort of thing?

I dunno. I was visiting family. It was a smart TV of some sort, and well over 40 inches. It just made me more aware of the fact that what I was watching was staged and filmed.

[chazthesilencer]

War for the Planet of the Apes. The film isn’t nearly as grandiose as the title suggests, I was expecting a massive war between humans and apes with conflicts in both camps etc., but the story is much smaller and a more personal one for Caesar. It’s a revenge plot which later turns into a prison-break movie. So adjust your expectations accordingly.

Enjoyed it, but wasn’t as enthralled watching this one as I was Dawn.
“Bad Ape” got a lot of chuckles from the cinema audience.
On a geekier note- I liked the bridging this film did towards the original movie series, like

SPOILER: Show

Offering an explanation as to how humankind lost its speech and higher intelligence.

Caesar’s tear was a nice, little easter-egg.
Not a bad ending to a surprisingly good reboot trilogy. Wouldn’t mind watching another instalment; maybe a few bomb-worshipping, mutant humans will appear and cause trouble for the apes a few years down the line.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Watched Alien:Covenant again. Easily the best film of the summer. Love it!

[Ray]

Jailhouse Rock:

Probably the best Elvis movie. It's a shame that after this his movie career would descend into campy fare, because Elvis can really sell the more serious dramatic stuff here along with being a great performer.