Recently watched movies!

[Dr Kain]

[Dr Kain]

Bram Stoker's Dracula - The 4K remaster of ths new Ugly Cover edition is absolutely stunning. There are some truly fine details I never noticed were around before and the new audio track is so much superior than the old one. My god, if Sony had actually used the original poster art for this movie it would be a perfect release. Nevertheless, I've talked about how much I love this movie many times so I'll just leave here with the yearly 9/10 stars.

The Fog - Except for the fact that Jaime Lee Curtis serves absolutely no purpose in this movie whatsoever, it is fantastic. It has a ton of atmosphere and mood going for it and the plot, while basic, really keeps you engaged to the TV to see what is going to happen next. An 8/10.

[Reaper G]

I found myself with a Scorsese double feature this weekend -- "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" aired on TCM, while "The Departed" was on my DVR. One was a "chick flick," the other a cops vs. criminals drama, but guess which one I thought looked and felt more like Scorsese?

[Dr Kain]

The Martian - Holy ****, what a damn good movie this was!! Everything was just great in it from the pacing, the balance between comedy and drama, the acting was top notch, and the sound was outstanding. Matt Damon was hands down phenomenal here. In fact, all of the actors did an excellent job. I won't go as far to say it is the best movie of the year so far, but it is definitely a contender for it. Everything in it seemed so plausible and realistic, which completely took me by surprise. This is what Interstellar should have been last year and what Prometheus could have been. Easily the best movie Ridley Scott has done since American Gangster. Overall, I give it a 9/10 stars.

[canofhumdingers]

Nah, Interstellar was definitely better than the Martian. The Martian was rather good. Interstellar was spectacular. The Martian was a survival story set in space and featured themes about human ingenuity, collaboration in extreme situations, and the will to survive/self preservation. Interstellar was about our place in creation, our (very important) role as explorers and pioneers, the existential questions that arise from deep space travel and the wild physics encountered there, and the future of the human race. It's not about the human race rallying around one man trying to save himself, but the sacrifice one man is willing to make to save the entirety of the human race. Both are very entertaining and feature spectacular space exploration sequences, but thematically Interstellar is on a much higher plane and far superior. To quote Spock, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

And I disagree about the acting. Some (like Damon) were great. Others (like Kristin Wiig) were pretty poorly written and rather unconvincing in their roles. And while MOST of it was plausible and realistic, again I felt some things (like the China involvement) were shoehorned in in a rather obvious pandering to specific markets. I'm not saying they couldn't have appealed to that market, I just think they could've done it in a way that felt much more natural within the story (for an example, see Gravity. She rides home in a Chinese capsule so China basically saved the day, but it doesn't feel like it was put in there JUST to go "hey China, please allow us to show our movie in your country"). In The Martian, I think having Japan or the European Space Agency (or anyone else actually involved in internationally collaborative space exploration such as the ISS) play the role instead of China would have been much more realistic and convincing and natural feeling.

All that being said, I'm not trying to poopoo The Martian. It's a great movie and I really enjoyed it. But I personally think Interstellar is one of the best films made in decades and its themes, particularly those about us being explorers and pioneers and how crucial that is to our development as a species, really resonate with me and my personal beliefs.

[Dr Kain]

I can't agree at all. I though Interstellar was a predictable borefest that was Nolan's worst movie since Insomnia. Even The Dark Knight Rises is better than Interstellar. Plus, I could actually hear the dialog of The Martian compared to the overbloated and loud noise that drowned out the dialog in Interstellar. There was no reason for it to be 3 hours long and the characters were so damn stupid. Oh, and did I mention that I guessed exactly what was going to happen the first time they showed the daughter's bookshelf?

As for the China thing, it's in the book, so you can't blame the movie for that.

[canofhumdingers]

Eh, to each his own. I haven't read the book for The Martian (but I'd like to having seen the movie) but regardless of where it came from, the China stuff just felt out of place and unconvincing. With how realistic it was trying to make everything else, I think using another country that actually does participate with the U.S. (and other countries) in space travel in real life would've been more believable.

And I don't think either film was particularly more predictable than the other. You knew from the get go the bookcase was going to be crucial whether you figured out exactly how or not. You knew

Like i said, Interstellar spoke to me on a much deeper thematic level than The Martian's "I have to survive" plotline (which is essentially the same basic story as Gravity, just in a slightly different outer space setting... One on the surface, one in orbit.)

Also, I'm a huge nerd about film as a medium and I got to see Interstellar in full blown 70mm IMAX on my second viewing and it was an AMAZING experience.

Also also, the characters in Interstellar were more compelling. A devoted father who clearly cares deeply about his children yet makes the incredibly hard choice to leave them (possibly forever) to save not only them but everyone they know, and even everyone they don't, is a better dramatic hero than a random scientist trying to save himself. While I can relate to both, as a still-rather-new father myself, the former is far more gripping than the second. Saving myself is a gut instinct. Saving my kids is quite potentially a willful act of self sacrifice. And the dynamics of a family (particularly a daughter who thinks she's been abandoned but then manages to save the world) has more dramatic and emotional weight to it than the dynamics of a crew or government organization in crisis. Again, this goes to my personal experiences having worked in a large bureaucratic organization, been a crew member on complex craft, and having a family. Family trumps all.

[MekaGojira3k]

Saw Attack on Titan Part 2. Which was even weirder than the first, and for that reason alone I enjoyed it. It's a very bizarre mashup of the manga/war of the gargantuas/etc. I really had fun, especially since the most close minded of the manga/anime-fans didnt' show up for Part 2.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

I only saw "he's a terrible father" but I'll wind up reading the rest...but I had to respond.

I wouldn't WANT to leave my kids to save the Earth, but I would do it FOR THEM. I don't think it makes Coop a terrible father to try to give his children a chance at NOT dying...
He doesn't NEGLECT his son. He just knows what his son does and doesn't need. The movie just doesn't hone-in on the relationship between him and his son because it's not important to the plot. If his son had been the one to go on to be an astrophysicist then he would have used his bond with his son to send the message back through time to him...but his son goes on to be a farmer.

[Dr Kain]

Except he doesn't give a crap about his son. They even make the comment, "He will be fine, but you need to make things right with <daughter>." He just doesn't care about his son so he doesn't care about his relationship with him. And then we have the daughter who goes all OCD and wastes her entire life trying to get her dad back. If he conveyed any love to his son then I missed it due to the obnoxiously loud music.

[jellydonut25]

[DannyBeane]

I finally watched Interstellar. It was a long, long film. There was a lot of stuff I liked and then some stuff I didn't like. I'd have to watch the film a second time to properly list them though.

[Dr Kain]

I'm sorry.

In the Mouth of Madness - This is definitely Carpenter's last good movie. It isn't as good as his top hits, but it is still a really well done movie and I love all of the homages to Lovecraft. I give it a 7/10.

[jellydonut25]

Tomorrowland - I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that was so absolutely unwilling to tell me what the hell was going on and why I should care at all. I watched a 130-minute movie called Tomorrowland, and EVERYTHING I know about the actual Tomorrowland (the PLACE in the movie) is what I already knew about it from the trailers. I hear you saying, "But wait...we didn't know that much about it from trailers. It's future-y looking, and our heroes go there." EXACTLY.
People wanna slam Godzilla, or PacRim, or Jurassic World for "bad" characters...at least I knew who those characters were and what their agendas were. Hugh Laurie is in this movie. He's called "Governor" Nix. He's the main antagonist, I guess. He punches George Clooney in the face a couple times, and that's about it. He also, but that only makes him a WORSE character, because it makes no sense.

George Clooney is in this. He's melancholy and mistrustful. Basically everything I know about his character after watching the movie could have been surmised from that fight sequence they showed us where he was beating up robots in his armored house.

It's 90 minutes before this movie stops with the setup and mystery and then it slams into its climax, which also features an overblown death sequence, and is super predictable. There is no second act.

I REALLY wanted to like this. Unfortunately, it does little in 2 hrs and 10 minutes that wasn't done in 2 minutes and 10 seconds in trailers. It's not the worst thing I've seen recently, but it's really not good...at all...

[Dr Kain]

I originally had an interest in Tomorrowland with the very first trailer. And then the second trailer came out and all of my interest went out the window because it looked like another generic CGI fest that brought nothing new to the table. I have no plans to ever watch it.

Anyway,

Halloween III - This is such a great movie and probably the second best entry in the franchise. It does something unique and original and it is a shame people didn't like it just because Michael wasn't in it. Talk about being selfish pricks. Anyway, there is so much going on here with its atmosphere and weird execution that it just relishes in it. In fact, this was probably the last true Halloweeny horror movie to come out until Trick r Treat in 2009, which is also a shame. Overall, a great 8/10 stars.

[jellydonut25]

To be fair, when I think of a "generic CGI-fest" something more like San Andreas comes into my head. I don't think Tomorrowland quite fits that description, but I'm not gonna go to bat for it too much, because I'd only give it like a 2/5. It was entertaining, because Brad Bird has a keen director's eye, and it's mostly a well-paced film, but it doesn't GO anywhere or payoff in any significant way (and there's a really grating, "You're ruining the planet, sheeple! Wake up and start recycling!" speech).

[Dr Kain]

The Shining - Such a great movie full of atmosphere, mood, with an excellent score and incredible cinematography. I love the shots that just follow the characters from in front or behind. Unfortunately, it isn't perfect as Wendy is about as bright as coal and Jack Nicholson's breakdown into insanity doesn't come off as natural as he feels insane right from the get go. Despite these flaws, it is a 9/10 movie as it is one of the best horror movies ever made.

Skyfall - Such a beautiful movie. Easily one of the best Bond films in the entire franchise and it was nice to see them focus on plot and characters after the disappointment that was Quantum. The fight scene in Shanghai is just gorgeous to watch and the background when Skyfall has been blown up is so damn pretty. A 9/10.

[jellydonut25]

The Martian - I personally really love Prometheus, but this is the best thing Scott has done since...Gladiator? I like a lot of his movies, and he is one of the all-time greats (and I DO legitimately wonder if family issues have been affecting some of his films' quality in recent years), but I wasn't sure he had a film of THIS caliber left in him. This stands alongside some of his very best work, and while I've definitely had some really enjoyable theatrical experiences in the past few years (Pacific Rim, Godzilla, Mad Max, The new Apes movies, basically every Christopher Nolan movie), this might be the most I've enjoyed a movie in a theater on my first viewing since The Dark Knight. I had no reservations, no complaints, no "oh please" moments, nothing but pure enjoyment for roughly 130 of 140 minutes. I'm not afraid to give something a perfect score: 5/5.

[Dr Kain]

We went to the TCM Dracula double feature event today.

It was odd watching the Lugosi movie without the Glass score after so many years. The movie is enjoyable and Renfield is absolutely amazing in this movie, however, I'm not a fan of them combining some of his role with what should have been Jonathan's. Also, they completely forgot about Lucy being a vampire. The ending is now really the greatest either, but the moments between Van Helsing and Dracula are fantastic, especially the bit when Helsing notices Dracula has no reflection in the cigarette case. Overall, no where near my favorite of the Universal Classics, it is still a good movie. I give it a 7/10.

This was my first time seeing the Spanish version and I thought it was better in some areas but inferior in others. I just can't help myself but find Dracula down right hilarious in this version. He looks so goofy when he tries to do the stare and his grin is so damn funny. He was definitely no Lugosi. One area I did like was the further development for Eva (not sure why they didn't keep it as Mina) and they did remember to kill Lucy, albeit off screen. Thanks to the night time filming there was a lot more atmosphere at times, but that alone can not make it better. The reflection scene was lackluster and Dracula had a long delayed reaction to it, but I did like how he shattered the box. In the end, I'm going to also give this one a 7/10 because while it may not be better than the US version, it is at least on par.

[klen7]

Jupiter Ascending - I know a lot of people on this forum liked this movie, but I thought it was laughably bad. The story felt like one of the YA romance flicks, the cinematography lacked anything resembling cohesion, the Space Wolf character design seemed like something SNL would come up with, the main villain's voice was the most hilariously awkward since Bane, they rivaled The Wicker Man remake for worst bee related scene in cinema. What a bizarre (expensive looking) film

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[O.Supreme]

Well, Minions rolled into the local discount theater, so I decided to take my kids as they had been anxious to see the film (and a REGAL gift card didn't hurt either). Now I genuinely liked DM 1, and to a lesser extent DM 2. Initially I was skeptical about Minions, because well... to me they seem pretty pointless, and I did not think they could carry a movie on their own, but I had actually heard a lot of praise from adults, so I figured why not...

Well my initial skepticisms turned out to be true. Minions is pretty mindless. I only remember laughing out loud actually once, and it was something I'm pretty sure was in a preview. After the film, I told my kids this would NOT be a day 1 Blu Ray purchase. In a couple of years, if this is in the 2-3 dollar bin at Wal-Mart maybe... I'll get it for them, other than that, I'm not wasting my own money.


I guess in my older age, I am appreciating intelligent comedy more and more (well I always liked it), but at one time I did enjoy base comedy, sight gags, physical comedy etc... I guess to me, Minions just had some sort of vibe, that I felt like brain cells were dying. That myself, my wife, and my kids were all becoming less intelligent for watching it, and that is not something wouId care to repeat.

[Dr Kain]

Trick r Treat - One of the best horror movies of all time, especially for a movie based around Halloween. The stories are all fun with great twists and this movie just keeps getting better with every viewing. 9/10.

I thought Minions was a harmless funny film that was worth a one time viewing.