Recently watched movies!

[jellydonut25]

I'm gonna keep watching for now, under the hope that the insane amount of stuff CRAMMED into one 52 minute episode was just for the pilot, to tease people and try to show off how many different things they're going to try to undertake and really hook everyone before settling down a bit and taking less of a "Every single thing but the kitchen sink...on second thought, include the sink too...and all the plumbing" approach.

[Dr Kain]

The first season, Murder House, was down right incredible. It had a lot of great subplots going on with some really unique cinematography and awesome music. There was a sense of mystery to it and it was really well done. Unfortunately, the show seems to get more complicated with each season to the point that the current season, Freak Show, is utter garbage.

[jellydonut25]

Well, sad to say I'm not enjoying it in season 1 thus far...

[Dr Kain]

Inherent Vice - After finally getting to see this movie I can not help but feel disappointed. It isn't a bad movie, but more of a mixed bag. There are some down right excellent scenes and then there are scenes that just will not end. The acting is phenomenal but the story is all over the place. There are scenes that come out feeling utterly pointless. The movie did not need to be 2.5 hours long and trimming out a good 45 minutes from it could have helped make it a stronger, more cohesive story. On the other hand, I do give it a lot of credit for not being the same thing I have seen a million times. Overall, it was worth a one time viewing. I give it a 7/10. Oh yeah, and it was so strange to see a movie from Paul Anderson that wasn't about aliens or zombies.

[lhb412]

^There are two directors named Thomas Anderson: the Resident Evil one and the Boogie Nights one. Inherent Vice is by the Boogie Nights one!

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

Paul WS Anderson:
Mortal Kombat
Event Horizon
Resident Evil
Death Race

Paul Thomas Anderson:
Boogie Nights
Magnolia
Punch Drunk Love
There will be Blood
Inherent Vice

[Reaper G]

The Interview

After all the brouhaha, it came to the nearby $2 theater. It was okay, not brilliant but a few decent laughs. I couldn't stand James Franco's over the top mugging and much preferred Seth Rogen's more grounded performance and character.

In light of recent events, this movie could have stunk on ice, and I still wouldn't have regretted seeing it.

[lhb412]

The Great Yokai War (2005)

"Azuki beans... are good for you!"

Finally saw this one, am a huge fan of the original movies from the '60s, and... I'm not sure what to make of it. There were lots of things I liked about it, but Miike's kitchen sink approach and the very Japanese way we're given lots of details that aren't expounded upon leaves an impression of "hmmmm..." as opposed to "Yay!"

I feel like I'd have to see it again to make up my mind about it.

[klen7]

This movie grew on me a lot. It was kind of like Gamera the Brave, where I let the fandom set my expectations and ended up watching a movie that was not at all what I expected (for the better)

[lhb412]

^Had the same experience with Gamera the Brave.

- and the fact that this movie (Yokai War) has been bouncing around in my head for all of this, the proceeding day has me getting warmer on it. It really does feel like a Japanese equivalent to the Jim Henson fantasy films of the '80s.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe -

When I first saw this movie, I was far from blown away. I had heard decent things about it, but as a kid it was difficult to appreciate just how great this film truly is. I rewatched it tonight after getting the Blu Ray for Christmas. GOTU is an old-fanshioned monster flick. It's straight laced with excellent characters and it has just enough laughs thrown in to off-set the very serious tone of the movie. The story is quite brilliant in that Gyaos are fully realized as a viable threat to the world because of the way they reproduce. While some of the effects shots aren't great, a majority are excellent and the miniature work is fantastic. Considering the meager budget, this film did exceptionally well in the SPFX department. I really love the camera angles used in the film during the monsters' ramapage. We see a lot of low shots from a distance and a few from beneath the monsters, all of which add to the realism of the film. The score is great and memorable.

Honestly, I didn't remember GOTU being this good. It's a far cry better than most of the Heisei films sans Biollante and maybe G85, plus it's a fun movie. Kaneko took Gamera and completely reinvented him in a good way, while trying to keep the essence of the original Gamera films in tact. The job he did in maintaining Gamera's connection to humanity while breathing new life and ideas into the series is what made these films so great.

[jellydonut25]

Lucy - this movie should've been titled Transcendence instead of that Johnny Depp thing...because this is transcendently bad. It takes bad to a whole other level of the playing field. It's so BAD...it's hysterical.
At the end, she tries to give all her knowledge away and does it by:

That's...that's just about the best thing ever.

Whenever I watch really bad movies, I say stuff to myself like, "It'll be awesome if it does [INSERT SOMETHING REALLY DUMB]" and movies almost NEVER do that, because they're trying too hard to be "legitimate" this movie didn't do EVERY stupid thing I wanted, but it DID do like 2 of them...so, if you like movies that are bad on accident, that try in earnest but are just complete clusterf***s, then Lucy is like sweet, sweet candy.

[lhb412]

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Watched the whole movie, then had to go back and watch the Kail sequence again. That's one dang fine Harryhausen sequence!

Because we're bombarded with lists on the internet I have decided to rank the creatures for this film:
1. Kali
2. Siren Figurehead
3. Centaur
4. Flying Homunculus
5. Gryphon

[lhb412]

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave

You know, a couple of years ago when I first saw this film I had the militant atheist bug (early 20s, it happens) and really resented this movie's message of "go to church or Dracula will get you!" It interfered with my enjoyment of this movie a great deal. I'm calmer now, and I must admit this is probably the best Chris Lee Dracula movie... other than the first, of course.

[Dr Kain]

Sunset Boulevard - We went to see this tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse and it was a truly magnificent movie. Normally, over acting is not good, but here, it was done in such a down right incredible manner that I couldn't picture the movie without it. What is even more interesting is that everything they say Hollywood was like back then still seems to hold true to even this day. The characters were great even if they were not likable, but that was the point. The fact the movie is narrated by a dead man is even more impressive. However, that scene at the end on the staircase was just epic. That is two movies now I have watched in the last two weeks that have had an amazingly suspenseful ridden and wonderfully shot scene of people coming down the stairs. I loved how those on the case were all still until it was their moment to move. That was incredible. I think I am going to give this movie an excellent 9/10 stars.

[jellydonut25]

Episode 2 of Horror Story was a definite improvement over episode 1, but I still feel like it's doing too much too fast and blitzing through things. At least this one didn't feel overstuffed.

[Benjamin Haines]

[lhb412]

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Getting up really early and watching this before work was a good idea.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Rody]

[klen7]

'Secret of Kells' is fantastic. I initially wrote it off because of the cover art. They have a new film out this year called 'Song of the Sea' which i hope to check out.

[lhb412]

[Dr Kain]

Justice League - THrone of Atlantis - What do you get when you take what should have been a stand alone movie and add the Justice League into it? This poorly written, poorly paced, movie. There are scenes in the movie that feel like they should have been longer, while there are others that do not belong. The plot is hardly bearable, there is very little in the way of character development, and there is a lot that does not seem to make sense. For example, there is a scene later on in the movie where the US military shows up without any rhyme or reason. They are just there. On the positive side, it is an improvement over War, but not by much. There is also a countless amount of violence that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. In fact, I am not even sure why it is there. It's like the Justice League cares more about killing off as many bad guys as possible than actually just stopping them. How are these guys heroes? Overall, I am so glad I did not drop a single cent on it as I will never rewatch the movie again. I give it a generous 5/10 stars.

[sentaison]

The Fat Man from 1951. If you like The Thin Man films and others like them, you'll like this one. http://youtu.be/fxw4l3CCbPw It's based on a popular radio show created from an idea from Dashiell Hammett from the late 1940's.