I Just Bought Popcorn and a Drink and Now I Have No Money - (movie reviews)

[Reply #360 on:]

Frozen

This movie is as bad if not worse than Rapunzel‎. I quit watching about after the 15 min mark.

$10 down the drain.

We all waste money, HJS.
That's why I regret watching "After Earth", medium expections, diarrhea at the end.

Still I haven't seen Frozen yet.

[Reply #361 on:]

I watched Rush the other day. Pretty good film. Based on a true story. "A re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda."

The acting was superb, the music was fantastic (good old Hans Zimmer), and the races were OK. Good storyline; relatively easy to follow. But it was very good. The reminiscence between the acting James Hunt/Niki Lauda and the real one were pretty spot-on when they showed the clips at the end. But it was a good film. I enjoyed it, and there was nothing particularly in there that I despised.

8.5/10

[Reply #362 on:]

Frozen

This movie is as bad if not worse than Rapunzel‎. I quit watching about after the 15 min mark.

$10 down the drain.

We all waste money, HJS.
That's why I regret watching "After Earth", medium expections, diarrhea at the end.

Still I haven't seen Frozen yet.

Hojay doesn't like any movie so it doesn't really matter.

[Reply #363 on:]

I don't pay to watch movies mostly so I win! Also I do like some movies.

[Reply #364 on:]

Unfortunately they have yet to make a Paddy the Pelican feature, so I'm still not sold on this whole "movies" thing yet.

[Reply #365 on:]

I watched Fargo and American Psycho last night, those were two "movies" I liked a whole hell of a lot. As for both of them.

[Reply #366 on:]

Ender's Game: 7.5/10
Pretty good movie with some cool looking enemies (which isn't the best word for them, but whatever) and a pretty good message.

Ender's Game: 3/10 (I guess...)

My review will start off with how this is just basic rocket science.

And that's where it ends.  The movie shouldn't have been made.  It's not entirely the movie's fault, I think, and arguably for someone who has never read the novel, it's probably a bit fun or some shit.  The movie does an ok job of touching upon most of the pieces captured in the book, and it has decent special effects, though I wouldn't consider a special effects driven movie, just like the book is not necessarily an action driven story.

And that's why this movie is bad and should have never been made.  It fails on a large scale to capture the emotion that the book possessed.  Again, not necessarily the movie's fault since it was like 2 hours long.  And that's why it fails; it just isn't possible in 2 hours to describe how the characters (Ender most especially included) get to where they're going... they're eventual triumphs and their own self defeats.

The cast has a lot of problems.  Petra was okay, and I think Harrison Ford actually made a good Graff... I think in a strange way, I may have imagined someone like Ford as Graff when I read the book.  Bonzo is too small; they got an actor that could do the facial expressions and get across the rage, ignorance, and pride that Bonzo possessed, but he's just too small and thus the threats that Ender faces in the film never come across as realistic or threatening.  For that matter, Ender is too big.  He's supposed to a much younger prodigy who almost has no business being in Battle School, where as in the movie he's played by a child actor who is the same age, same size if not larger than the other characters portrayed.  Again, this refutes the premise of the story that Ender has real threats and is in actual danger from them.

And that's why the movie sucked... none of the threats are all that threatening, and you never grasp a sense of accomplishment on any of Ender's part because there just wasn't enough time to actually build up the suspense, the hardwork and the effort that these children actually had to display to get to where they eventually get.  Like I said, the film touches upon the major events in a quick fashion, in an attempt I suspect to fit as much of the book as possible into the movie.

The movie was essentially what if Ender is a godlike character who can do no wrong and has nothing at stake because he can spin around in zero g with two pistols and zap everyone, including the [redacted out of oblivion.  And that... though they hammered certain thematical elements from the book into your head in the movie (without actually explaining what they were and letting the audience understand it), is what was wrong with the movie.  It was completely contrary to the whole idea the book presented.....

that being that Earth had come to its last chances to save humankind by putting all its money on a rigorous and difficult program with the hope of procuring a savior out of children, most of which, even the best of the best, would essentially be washed out and live with lifelong scars from serving in such an intense training period.  This is basically just brushed over in the movie in favor of a godlike character who is perfect in every way, who pretends at the end to have emotions despite the fact that he hasn't actually demonstrated a reason to have them.

Also, if you liked Peter and Valentine at all... fuck this movie because it essentially doesn't give a shit about them, and Peter is some older brother you see for 5 seconds who makes fun of Ender for 3 of those seconds and makes him wear a mask... and Valentine is just some random sister who is nice or something and can sit on a boat for 3 seconds.  This movie is clearly a true demonstration of the forethought that would go through international politics in order to create a military power strong enough, and resourceful enough to save all of humanity.

Don't get me wrong... there are nice things about the movie.  Harrison Ford... that guy who played Mazer Rackham, who gets the character right about 40% of the time (the movie does worse than 40% most of the time, so this is actually pretty good), and the climax of the story was actually done pretty cool.  It caught me off guard as anti-climactic for a moment, and then came back and surprised me.... and also it looked pretty cool.  But all in all, if you care about the book, I'd say you wouldn't lose much by avoiding this movie entirely.  Except what I started off with in the beginning of this post.  This is just basic rocket science is a pretty funny catchphrase... and ultimately the only triumph this movie truly had... oh and I guess the battle uniforms looked kind of cool.... also Harrison Ford did an okay job.

Other problems with the movie though?  Yes.  There are artistic liberties taken, and they're wrong.  They ruin the story further, and again, not necessarily the movie's fault.... you just couldn't fit the right thing into that small of space.  Also, Bean is not black, and he was not in Ender's launch group.  He's a little street urchin, yes, and he's actually Greek.... thanks a lot movie... also you ruined the whole Enemy's Gate is Down concept.... without ever attempting to explain it at all!

Which is exactly what this movie does.  It says things in the book... it generally follows the plot of the book... and it never explains anything, there by never truly earning any of the ideas presented by the book or actually conceptualizing what the story represented.  Knowing they couldn't do that, they'd just tell you what you were supposed to get.... The enemy's gate is down.... Ender is the best..... Ender understands the Buggers.... Ender understands the Buggers.... Ender must understand the Buggers (no... seriously, they basically said this about 3 times in the movie... again without explanation)... Ender is the best... Ender understands the Buggers.  etc.

This movie should have never been made.  I think they tried hard to do the impossible, honestly..... and on its own merits, I guess it wasn't complete garbage, though it's hard to tell.  TheBPP11 liked it... and I can infer from his review that he's never read the book... if he's ever heard of it... so maybe if you haven't read the book, it's a great movie!  Except I think it fails on that front too.  I think if I hadn't read the book first (and I had that opportunity) I would have still been confused by the movie... because they tried to grasp at the themes in the book (good themes mind you) but just could not actually demonstrate them in the time allotted.  And they kind of shot themselves in the foot in an attempt to make sequels that might follow the other books...... since umm... they skipped Demosthenes and Locke completely...  if you don't know who that is, don't worry I'm not spoiling the movie.

Now that I've seen the movie..... I think it might have been great.... iff.... it had been a miniseries.... and..... some of the casting choices were changed...... and they refrained from making artistic changes like the ones they chose.  Bean is not in Ender's launch group for example.... that ruins lots of stuff... Ender doesn't have an ET moment with the [redacted]... etc.  More fleshing out would have improved this... and the 3 out of 10 I gave this could have been at least an 8 if they'd have had time to demonstrate the ideas they were trying to cheat into 2 hours.

I spent $4 for two tickets to see this... and umm.. I expected to see a cerebral strategy movie that touched upon the psychological issues when a human being is pressed to their extremes and how that interacts with the human condition.  Instead I sat through 2 hours of incorrect casting (maybe 50/50) for an action movie set in space.  The climax was cool... a minute and a half long film with just that would have actually been great... just for the record.... and I'm not upset about $4.  Really I'm not... so if you have read the book, I still suggest avoiding this... but if for whatever reason you do watch it, pull out funny stuff from it... you know this is just basic rocket science... and then read the book again.  You'll want to erase most of the movie out of your head, and you should definitely replace it with something better.

[Reply #367 on:]

* winna blinks

[Reply #368 on:]

American Hustle

Pretty good despite some flaws. It couldn't really decide whether it was a drama or a comedy until about halfway through when it seemed to choose comedy, and ended up being the better for it because there are some great laughs to be had from the cast. The story was good but the execution was a bit off...particularly the narration by the characters was awkward and added nothing to the movie. The soundtrack was really good too, although sometimes the song being played didn't really fit the scene it was being played over. Overall I was glad I saw it though.

B-

I'd say if you're stuck between seeing this one or The Wolf Of Wall Street, go for the latter. Easy choice.

Frozen

This movie is as bad if not worse than Rapunzel‎. I quit watching about after the 15 min mark.

You watched 15 minutes of an hour-and-a-half-long movie. So in other words, you didn't watch the movie. Therefore your judgment is completely worthless. Why even post a fucking review at all? Leave it to the people who actually saw the damn thing.

Also, there's no movie called Rapunzel.

[Reply #369 on:]

So if a friend invited you over and said that she was going to have fun with you for 90 minutes and sat you in a chair and started singing and slapped you a few times every minute and you got up and left after 15 minutes... you would be an asshole for suggesting to your friends that they not take her up on a similar offer for 90 minutes of fun?

[Reply #370 on:]

Also, there's no movie called Rapunzel.

If HJS is referring to Tangled, I wouldn't be surprised. Most films are worse than Tangled.

Although that doesn't explain why she left after fifteen minutes.

[Reply #371 on:]

Also, there's no movie called Rapunzel.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1597108/ 

[Reply #372 on:]

The Godfather

So misleading! It has nothing to do with God the Father. I quit watching after the 15 min mark.

0/10

[Reply #373 on:]

About to go see The Hobbit 2, looking forward to Benedict Cucumberpatch (that's his name, right? ;P ) dragon voice. And Legolas. *squee* he's totally not meant to be in The Hobbitsies, but I'm glad they're doing more elven stuffs. Mmm, Orlando Bloomage.

Not sure if overhyped, but we shall see, I shall return with a reviewness.

[Reply #374 on:]

* Xanfor thinks Tastes Like Fry is channeling a little km73 there.

[Reply #375 on:]

So if a friend invited you over and said that she was going to have fun with you for 90 minutes and sat you in a chair and started singing and slapped you a few times every minute and you got up and left after 15 minutes... you would be an asshole for suggesting to your friends that they not take her up on a similar offer for 90 minutes of fun?

Maybe after a half hour she'd start having sex with me, which would be worth it. Maybe not, but if I left I'd never know and thus have no right to tell anyone else there wasn't something good in store for them if they put up with the slapsinging.

That's a good analogy, I think. What is it you have wrong with the noble tradition of slapsinging, anyway? Romance isn't dead, you know.

[Reply #376 on:]

Alright, that was intense, and I was a little frustrated with the cliffhanger at the end despite it being expected, but boy have they upped the cgi, and smaug looked fantastic and he sounded fantastic and I love the little bits they added.
Despite being in a small cinema with only a few people, it was still noisy, but the best comment was made by someone behind me when an arrow was shot into one of the dwarves' knees. I'm not even going to even type it.

Also, preview for "Saving Mr. Banks" There's another one for the list.

[Reply #377 on:]

Yeah, saw Hobbit 2 last night as well. The CGI wasn't nearly as distracting this time round, and I'm willing to admit the actions scenes completely enthralled me. As someone who hasn't read the book, the plot was hard to get at times, but I didn't expect it to be simple.

[Reply #378 on:]

Bunraku
Part Sin City, part Scott Pilgrim and part stage play, Josh Hartnett is a cowboy fist fighter (it's the future, guns have been banned, duh) who joins forces with a samurai (Gackt) to defeat an evil warlord called The Woodcutter (Ron Perlman).
However his 9 personal bodyguards (led by the excellently sadistic Kevin McKidd) and colourful red-suited gang stand in the heroes way.
It's a tongue-in-cheek comic samurai western noir revenge fantasy flick that has some great visuals, set design, animation, lighting and soundtrack, it's pretty cool.
It has Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore too!

B+

Perks of Being a Wallflower
About a young introverted guy, dealing with high school bullies and not having many friends, he also has some mental problems related to a past tragedy.
But he befriends his English teacher and eventually some student friends (including Emma Watson and Anne from Arrested Development (...her?)) and the do the whole coming of age and dealing with their problems thing.
Well acted and stuff.
C+

[Reply #379 on:]

Also, there's no movie called Rapunzel.

If HJS is referring to Tangled, I wouldn't be surprised. Most films are worse than Tangled.

Although that doesn't explain why she left after fifteen minutes.

It would seem that the Disney idea really works for HJS. When given a chance to watch the entirety of one of their films, she disney.

[Reply #380 on:]

so disney

                               much disappoint

            wow

[Reply #381 on:]

Would everyone please start typing properly and just sshut up with et teh eshit. Teh pitn of this peklace is make a fuckknag aeverot anwqhat i rty to tdo is at leats fail to get it eright buy the efforst is imprtanmt.

[Reply #382 on:]

Just coming back from "The Grudge Match".
I quite enjoyed the movie.

Imho, it manages to keep the fine line between parodying classics like "Rocky", while paying tribute to them the same time.
Acting was solid. Though sometimes, Stallone's and DeNiros character appeared a little too "standard", while the scene was rather carried by the supporting cast.

[Reply #383 on:]

Captain Philips
Great performances by the main guys, the tension really ramps up for the last act.
Good stuff.
B-

[Reply #384 on:]

Do you give any movie an A?

[Reply #385 on:]

Do you just come and here and ask dumb questions?!

Yes, I'm pretty sure I do, like The Raid and stuff... uhmm, that's all I can think of right now, only reaaaally good ones get an A with me, if it's good but it didn't really tickle my taint... then it goes in the B folder!

[Reply #386 on:]

if it's good but it didn't really tickle my taint... then it goes in the B folder!

Does this film do the trick?

[Reply #387 on:]

That looks like a photo of a bedroom poster... possibly your bedroom... where you have bumsex with hairy bums.
Nice.

Anyhoo,
Drug War
A Chinese movie about a drug enforcement Captain and his team who arrest a drug lord at the beginning. And in order to avoid the death penalty, the drug lord promises to help bring down his bosses and suppliers, but is he trustworthy? *

It's clever and not primarily martial arts, there's a few gun shootouts
It's a bit like a Michael Mann crime film version of The Wire... in China... if that makes sense.

* Spoilers!

Show spoiler

Not really, he goes along with it right to the end then everyone dies.

B winnas out of 10!

Last Vegas
Hmm, this is an ok film, but it's no Hangover, more of a Hangover applesauce mix that's easier on the bowels (HA! old people jokes!)
There's the rich handsome prune face (Douglas) who is getting married to a girl half his age (hiyooo!), the grumpy sourpuss who used to be his best friend (DeNiro), Morgan Freeman who is on medication, and the nerdy one who has a new lust for shenanigans when his wife gives him a pass in the form of a viagra and a condom at the airport (Kevin Kline).
There's some chuckles, I mainly enjoyed the "waking up from the night before" scene when Kline and Freeman wake up in the same bed and say "Ughhh, everything's spinning..." only to zoom out and reveal they are actually on a spinning bed, lols!
C-

[Reply #388 on:]

I mainly enjoyed the "waking up from the night before" scene when Kline and Freeman wake up in the same bed and say "Ughhh, everything's spinning..." only to zoom out and reveal they are actually on a spinning bed, lols!

That joke was also in the trailer, so I guess there's no need to see this

[Reply #389 on:]

I saw Her in the theater. That was a pretty nice prequel to Terminator

[Reply #390 on:]

I mainly enjoyed the "waking up from the night before" scene when Kline and Freeman wake up in the same bed and say "Ughhh, everything's spinning..." only to zoom out and reveal they are actually on a spinning bed, lols!

That joke was also in the trailer, so I guess there's no need to see this

Just quit watching after the 15 min mark. That's all you need really.

[Reply #391 on:]

I saw Seven Psycopaths last week at the outdoor rooftop cinema in Perth. Really great film - entertaining (and hilarious) the whole way through, fantastic cast, there's not really much one can fault about it.

8.5/10

[Reply #392 on:]

Frozen

Saw it with the sparklee's mum. I liked it. It was sweet and nice.  I love musicals. It was more sibling love focused than anything else which was sweet. there was a little romance but not like how cartoonlover thinks it is. no damsel in destress waiting on Prince Charming or whatever. It was cute. I'm more for movies geared towards adults but I quite like it so I'll say 8.5/10.

The Hobbit:  Desolation of Smaug

Saw it with the sparklee.  The did an absolutley brilliant Smaug. Benedict Cucumber was wonderful at the voice.  It was everything I was hoping for with Smaug. I still wish that they had made The Hobbit one movie or even two would be fine. But I think three is to much. Sylvester McCoy is still good as Radagast the Brown. I know it's been a while since I've tend The Hobbit so I cant recall if he had been in the book at all.

Most of the violence was more comedy violence which was strange. Legolas was doing pirouettes on the dwarves heads is one example. The spider part made me even more happy that I cant watch 3D films because I would have freaked out more. I'm very annoyed that I have to wait about a year to see part three. There better be Dwelves (Dwarf-Elf hybrids). I liked Legolas but it was strange or out of place and Orlando Bloom looks like a pretty girl with the long blond wig. I did like the movie though so I give it a 9/10

[Reply #393 on:]

Her

This movie uses an interesting offbeat premise to explore personal connection and our relationship to technology, as well as other themes like acknowledging your flaws, being honest with the people you love, letting go of the past and embracing the future, and most of all what it means to be human. If you want something quirky and weird that will make you think, this is a good one.

A-

[Reply #394 on:]

The Wolf of Wall Street
Loved it, hilarious debauchery is good to see in the cinema with an audience, and it had a nostalgic voice-over by DiCaprio that was a lot like Ray Liottas in Goodfellas.
It's three hours long but I didn't even mind, excellent performances from DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.
Great soundtrack too.
A

[Reply #395 on:]

Despicable Me

A wonderfully animated and funny film with somewhat stereotypical characters and situations.  With a bit of a twist.

8/10 for typical viewers
9/10 for sappy emotional viewers (like Tachy)

[Reply #396 on:]

Nativity II: Danger in the Manger
The sequel to a movie which while far from perfect, was fun to watch and mock with my cousin when we saw it nearly a year ago.  My cousin and I hoped for a similar result with the sequel, but we were sadly dissapointed.  The sequel cut out Martin Freeman's character and replaced him with a new character played by David Tennant, which wasn't a very good move for me considering I quite like Martin Freeman.  This movie wasn't very fun to watch at all and we ended up fast forwarding most of the ending.  The musical numbers also suck big time.  I can only really describe it as boring and unfunny, I didn't enjoy it very much.

Now to wait for "Nativity III: Dude, Where's My Donkey?".  No, I'm not kidding.  
5/10

[Reply #397 on:]

Blackfish

One of my favorite movies as a kid was Free Willy, and I went to Sea World once when I was thirteen, and this movie made me feel really bad about both of those things.

Seriously, though, this was a ridiculously engrossing--if not slightly heavy-handed and, you know, myopic-in-its-views--documentary about the morality of locking whales up and how Sea World as a corporation misleads its trainers into thinking that hanging out with 12,000-pound mammals is cool and safe and that the whales are their best friends and would never kill two of them in two separate-yet-eerily-similar incidents spread twenty years apart. Like, at some points former trainers shed literal tears about the conditions in which the whales are kept and how their status as employees at these parks made them complicit in the shoddy treatment of creatures they considered on-par with a family pet--not to mention in the deaths of their colleagues--and it's surprisingly not cringe-worthy or silly or whatever; on the contrary, it is oddly touching.

So, yeah, cool movie. You can watch it on Netflix right now, if you're like me and have nothing more exciting to do on a Saturday night. It is not the worst way to spend 90 minutes of your time.

A

[Reply #398 on:]

Nebraska

The black and white didn't take anything away from the viewing experience. Really nice blend of comedy and drama and very well acted. Will Forte and Bob odenkirk were great as the two sons, and Bruce Dern did a great job as the dad. Hell, even Buzz Mcallister had a role as one of the idiot cousins

8/10

[Reply #399 on:]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

It was better than the first one and the additional material didn't even bother. When compared to first part, this had more interesting plot breaking all the fighting scenes. However, there was too much stuff, it was too long. (I assume the third movie is 2,5 hours of fighting against Smaug.) Anyway, it was a good movie.