Topic: "What Movies Have You Seen Lately?" Thread

[Xessive]

Ah, you didn't mention the "with a cult following" part.  The Room also has a cult following.  It's also one of the worst movies ever made, much worse than The Toxic Avenger or Sharknado.

Yeah, I double-checked it the list after your comment It was specifically "with a cult following"

Blade Runner was their #1!

Also, there's apparently a Sharknado 2.

[scottws]

Yes, Sharknado 2 just came out.  That and the first movie have both some weird cult following here.  Ever see Idiocracy?  Basically, the average American has gotten to that point and celebrates utter stupidity.  Think Ow My Balls!  They can't get enough of crap like that.

I watched Blade Runner for the first time about three weeks ago.  I found it very hard to watch and utterly boring.  That said, I can see how it made a splash back when it came out and do absolutely respect the overall theme and message of the film.  Ridley Scott sure knows how to challenge a moviegoing audience.  But, man, is the movie ever boring!

[Xessive]

Yes, Sharknado 2 just came out.  That and the first movie have both some weird cult following here.  Ever see Idiocracy?  Basically, the average American has gotten to that point and celebrates utter stupidity.  Think Ow My Balls!  They can't get enough of crap like that.

I watched Blade Runner for the first time about three weeks ago.  I found it very hard to watch and utterly boring.  That said, I can see how it made a splash back when it came out and do absolutely respect the overall theme and message of the film.  Ridley Scott sure knows how to challenge a moviegoing audience.  But, man, is the movie ever boring!

I loved Idiocracy! I weep for our future generations.

I'm always on the lookout for hidden gems, movies that didn't quite make it on the big screen but had something more substantial to offer, which are generally movies with a cult following. For example, Dark City; even though it wasn't financially successful, it was great! I loved that film.

[scottws]

Unfortunately, Americans wield considerable influence in regards to cult followings and such movies can either be something like Boondock Saints or it can be something horrible like The Toxic Avenger.

I enjoyed Dark City as well.  It was very cleverly executed.  I'll need to watch that one again now that you have mentioned it.

[Cobra951]

Dark City is one of my favorites as well.

Sharknado was just so over-the-top ridiculous that it was a stitch.  I mean, sharks raining down on people, snout first.  It's like the old SNL land-shark skit multiplied by thousands.  My brothers and I laughed our asses off over it.

I watched Maleficent, and liked it a great deal.  They twisted the fairy tale enough to make a new and interesting story out of it.  The casting was perfect.  Angelina Jolie, obviously; and Elle Fanning is a real-life fairy-tale princess of sorts, one with serious acting chops, even without considering she was 14 at the time.  I love the big-buck CGI realization of that fantasy world too.

[Xessive]

I'm watching John Dies At The End. I was drawn to the title but more for Paul Giamatti.

I finally watched Sideways last week, good film.

I'm on a Giamatti scavenger hunt, digging up any of his movies that I have yet to watch.

[Cobra951]

The Giver.  And if it's true that the book is better, then that book should be required reading for everyone.

[ren]

I don't think The Giver is required reading here but it was definitely featured prominently in the bookshelves of my classrooms growing up. I haven't watched the movie because I heard that they change a bunch of it to try and cash in on the teenage dystopian phase we're currently going through.

[Quemaqua]

Wasn't it pretty much a teenage dystopian book, though? I mean not in the lame-ass way most of them are doing now, but a youthfully-literary forerunner with more of a point? I've never read it. It's one of Heather's favorite books, though.

[ren]

The protagonist in the book is an 11 year old. The focus is on him slowly beginning to understand the world around him and ultimately rejecting it. It's very introspective with little action.

From what I understand of the movie, they turned him into a teenager, added a love interest and made it much more action oriented.

These aren't necessarily bad things but now how I want to remember it.

[Cobra951]

There is some action, but that is not the focus.  The trailer shows most of the movie's action in under 3 minutes.  The bulk is much more about slow revelation of what has been taken away from these people by well-meaning authoritarians, as seen by a boy who's akin to a blind man that just got to see for the first time.

Beware of a major spoiler at around 1:45 in that video (though I doubt it will be a surprise by the time the movie reveals it).

[scottws]

I saw Maze Runner last night. It was a fun watch, but didn't really seem to answer most of the questions it poses and just sets up the next movie at the end.  Jennie loved the book but said the next two suck.

[scottws]

I just finished watching Snowpiercer.  What a weird movie, though it is refreshing for me to watch such a thing.  Jennie only likes rom-coms and standard American summer action and sci-fi movies and I find it hard to get the time and gain Jennie's acceptance to watch some other movie on my own.  She wouldn't have made it ten minutes in this one.

I'm not quite sure what the message of the film was other than

(click to show/hide)

stupid humans are viscous, evil animals and the Earth will prevail without them

.  Very gritty and dark.

I just saw some of the earlier comments about Gravity.  I highly recommend playing a game called Simple Rockets.  It has completely changed my perception of space travel and how things move around in space (especially while in orbit).  And yes, moving between the shuttle and various space stations would be very difficult in general and impossible given the resources of Bullock's and Clooney's characters.  That said, I do like the movie quite a bit even if it does remind me somewhat of 2012 in that there is a calamity and urgent issue at every turn.

[MysterD]

@Scott
I caught Snowpiercer yesterday - and liked it. Thought it was pretty good.

@OW Message Board
I probably should post more about what I see, since I dive so much into movies on DVD or BR sometimes during the week and/or normally just about every weekend.

I caught also:
The Rover
The Fault In Our Stars
Neighbors
Fading Gigolo

[W7RE]

I just watched Howling 3: The Marsupials.

With a title like that, I'm not sure what I was expecting. The movie takes place in Australia, and paints werewolves as descendants of the extinct Tazmanian Tiger. The effects weren't even passable.

[Xessive]

I just watched Howling 3: The Marsupials.

With a title like that, I'm not sure what I was expecting. The movie takes place in Australia, and paints werewolves as descendants of the extinct Tazmanian Tiger. The effects weren't even passable.

Hahaha I at least enjoy saying that title in an Australian accent

[W7RE]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - My comic nerd friends talked this up as the best comic movie ever made. I thought it was pretty good. I think they enjoyed it more because of their history with the character through the comics.

Howling 4: The Original Nightmare - Not as laughable as Howling 3 was, but pretty boring. The werewolf effects were alright, but barely present until the end. Even then, you got 1 or 2 actual werewolves, and then a bunch of actual wolves. A guy did melt down to his skeleton, and that was pretty cool.

[Cools!]

The only movies I've seen recently at a cinema have been Gone Girl and Interstellar. I liked both, but wasn't blown away.

[Xessive]

Just watched The Boxtrolls, a claymation-style movie based on the children's book Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow.

[idolminds]

Finally got to watch some recent-ish movies. Well...recent for me.

Riddick: Cool.

Lego Movie: Great, better than it has any right to be.

Iron Sky: Dumb, which I mean fun dumb. I liked it.

Edge of Tomorrow: Pretty good.

Skyfall: Cool.

Django Unchained: You want blood squibs? We got blood squibs! I liked it.

The World's End: Weird, but I enjoyed it for its weirdness. I like that someone can go ahead and just make a weird movie like that that starts off kind of typical and then shifts gears into fucking nuts. And that ending...haha.

[ren]

That must have been quite the day.

[Cools!]

Edge of Tomorrow: I enjoyed it. Didn't like the ending though.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: I liked it. Again wasn't blown away, but for a comic book movie I thought it was pretty good.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Meh. Electro. Meh.

Transcendence: Crap. The idea is interesting, but that's about it. Waste of 2 hours.

[nickclone]

Boyhood: I'm a big fan of Richard Linklater and he wrote,directed and filmed this movie over the course of 12 years. This is like Dazed and Confused where it just give an ordinary, but interesting look, at everyday life.

The Equalizer: I enjoy watching Denzel Washington do action movies. Even though he's older now, he still looks like he can kick some ass. It could be the camera work, but after seeing Liam Neeson's horrible fight scenes in the Taken movies, I'm going to say its the actor.

[Cobra951]

Whiplash - the best indie movie I've seen in a long, long time.  Awesome.

[MysterD]

This Is Where I Leave You
Men, Women, and Children
What If
A Walk Among The Tombstones
The Maze Runner

EDIT:

Boyhood: I'm a big fan of Richard Linklater and he wrote,directed and filmed this movie over the course of 12 years. This is like Dazed and Confused where it just give an ordinary, but interesting look, at everyday life.

The Equalizer: I enjoy watching Denzel Washington do action movies. Even though he's older now, he still looks like he can kick some ass. It could be the camera work, but after seeing Liam Neeson's horrible fight scenes in the Taken movies, I'm going to say its the actor.

I recently saw The Equalizer - and I really liked it. It was almost about to reach greatness, until it gets predictable as it nears closer to the end.

I'll take A Walk Among The Tombstones over the Taken films any day.

[scottws]

Saw the following:

Gone Girl
Walk Among the Tombstones
Guardians of the Galaxy

I liked all of them quite a bit.

[Cools!]

X-Men: Days of Future Past: I liked it but thought First Class was better.

[scottws]

Same.  It almost seemed like yet another Wolverine movie.  I was pretty disappointed after how awesome First Class was.

[Cobra951]

Big Eyes - Here's a movie I enjoyed from beginning to end, a rarity at present.  Also, I think I'm in love with Amy Adams now.  She really shines here.

Interstellar -  Wow.  Great sci-fi.  Some of the visuals will influence ambitious space movies for years to come.  I was glued to the screen for the whole, long running time.  I think I've said before that authentic sci-fi gets a positive tilt from me just for that, and this is most definitely the real stuff.  The influence from, and subtle homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey is also noted and appreciated.

[Quemaqua]

Despite my general dislike for Tim Burton over the last decade or two, Big Eyes looked really cool. We almost saw it but didn't quite manage it. And I'm still super curious about Interstellar, despite some of the mixed feelings about it. That was actually what we wanted to see ... but the theater didn't have it. And it was a bit far for the promotion, so Big Eyes wasn't quite enough to get us there.

[PyroMenace]

Yea I actually found Interstellar to be Nolan's weakest film, but was still an entertaining watch, I liked it despite some of the flawed characters.

The Equalizer - Didn't like it much at all. Instead of being an efficient killing machine, he was more efficient at killing people in the more gratuitous manner, it was almost comical at times. And the villain was dumb as a bag of rocks.

Gone Girl - This movie was great. I won't say much because its best going in without knowing anything at all. Go check it out.

Hercules - It's the Rock as Hercules. It's not as terrible as you might think it is, but it won't blow you away either.

[Quemaqua]

Just watched Coherence on Amazon Prime. Quite fun, pretty cool. Has a bit of an indie feel but with polish, and while it's a sort of "mind bender", I think it actually pulled off the ending and made it worth it. Give it a watch. A fun movie to go into totally blind.

[MysterD]

Gone Girl - This movie was great. I won't say much because its best going in without knowing anything at all. Go check it out.

Watched it last night.
I agree - excellent movie.

[PyroMenace]

John Wick - Basically fixes all the issues I had with The Equalizer. This is how you kill people like a badass, not maliciously slicing people up, or stabbing someone in the face with a bottle opener, or hanging someone by barb wire, you just get some guns and aim for the head.

[MysterD]

Whiplash - the best indie movie I've seen in a long, long time.  Awesome.

Just watched this.
Thought it was excellent.

Wow @ the performances from JK Simmons + Miles Teller. Off the charts.

[Cobra951]

Exodus: Gods and Kings - If I were a big movie mogul, and were tasked with remaking The Ten Commandments for a modern audience, with modern technology, this would be very close to what I would shoot for.  The story takes a near-fatal misstep early in the confrontation between Jews and Egypt, but quickly recovers.  That's really my only major criticism.  I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Biblical epics, even the older generations.

[scottws]

Exodus: Gods and Kings - If I were a big movie mogul, and were tasked with remaking The Ten Commandments for a modern audience, with modern technology, this would be very close to what I would shoot for.  The story takes a near-fatal misstep early in the confrontation between Jews and Egypt, but quickly recovers.  That's really my only major criticism.  I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Biblical epics, even the older generations.

I saw that awhile ago, but I am having trouble remembering the misstep you are referring to. What is it?

[Cobra951]

I saw that awhile ago, but I am having trouble remembering the misstep you are referring to. What is it?

Without too much spoilage, Moses was not a terrorist. 

(click to show/hide)

In the movie, he started out his campaign against Egypt as asymmetric attacks against the Egyptian people themselves.  His strategy was to cause them discomfort, so that they would force Ramses to agree to the Jewish demands.  That horrified me, and struck me as some sort of commentary on current events.  Moses did not visit any plagues on Egypt.  Only God did.  Moses was only God's messenger.

[scottws]

Ah OK.  I went to Catholic school for 12 years, but honestly didn't really pay attention to the finer details.

[PyroMenace]

I haven't been able to enjoy a Ridley Scott movie for some time. He has always been hit or miss but lately it's been one forgettable flick after another. His movies always look great but the stories he tells within lack substance to carry them through. His last good one I think was American Gangster.

Exodus intrigued me like all his trailers do, but do you feel this one is worth checking out Cobra?