Last movie you saw.

[violetchain 912]

Saving Mr. Banks. It was alright, but I can't say I really liked it. 

[Visutox 188]

The Ballad of Narayama -

 

Really an awesome movie. The filmmaker decided to focus on the realism side of the movie and he fully succeeded; a Japanese village (apparently, around a century ago) surrounded by nothing but wildlife, and the purpose is to survive. Its realistic side show us the disgusting appearance of life and the way people lived at the time. And that's roughly the context. I won't go into details and explain the storyline, I recommend you this movie to see by yourself. 

 

 

[Bear 1817]

Lethal Weapon - This is simply one of the best action(comedies) films ever. It's exciting is and funny as fuck, and the chemesty between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is nothing short of brilliant. This film is to buddy cop films what Die Hard is to the lone hero action flicks. Obviously not on par with Die Hard, but this isn't too far behind to be honest. Just brilliant!  And just like Die Hard, it's one of the best christmas films ever.

[Visutox 188]

The Wolf Of Wall Street - 

 

According to what my surroundings told me about this movie, I was expecting something amazing and I'm disappointed. I don't get all the excitement there was concerning this movie... This was just good, without any further. Though it was really fun, I kinda enjoyed it.

 

I Spit on Your Grave (2010) - 

 

First of all, gotta say I haven't seen the original movie from 1978. And guess that's the next movie in my "to watch list", after the 2nd movie released in 2013.

 

Going back the 2010 one, it's a decent movie. The storyline is kinda interesting but imo this one isn't enough elaborated to make of it a masterpiece. The thing is that events take place so quickly and in the blink of an eye, I find myself at the end of the movie. But all in all, a good movie if boredom is killing you.

[Bear 1817]

The original I Spit on Your Grave is highly recommended from me. I love the original, but I can't stand the remake. While the remake has better production value and to some degree acting, it just doesn't atch the bleak and honest atmophere of the original. Such a huge difference there, at least for me.

[Bear 1817]

I just tried watching The Frozen Ground, and it was utter shite as expected. Didn't last more than 35 minutes. Got Nicolas Cage, John Cusack as well as Vanessa Hudgens in the leads, and suddenly 50 Cent pops up as well. That's when I had to struggle not to shit my pants. Jesus. The only positive is Vanessa Hudgens being sexy, and some tits. But if I want to look at either Vanessa Hudgens or tits I can just google something. Don't need to waste my time on a film.

 

Stay the fuck away!

[Bear 1817]

Blue Ruin - A crowdfunded revenge-thriller written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, the man behind the well-received horror-comedy Murder Part, which I have yet to see. The story is great, the cinematography is beautiful, it's full of suspense and it's at times extremely bloody. Great cast as well. I don't think I've ever heard of Macon Blair, but him not getting an Oscar for his performance here is absolutely ridiculous. He's pretty much carries this film on his own back, and he does it with so much power you can't do nothing but get impressed by it. Grim, gritty and fantastic.

 

Blue Ruin is a simple and straight-forward, yet smart and superbly written, played and directed revenge-thriller that will keep on the edge of your seat for 80 out of the 85 minutes it lasts.

 

From the 73 films I've seen from 2013, this is the very best (excluding documentaries).

 

[nomemorial 341]

Guardians of the Galaxy (finally!)

Definitely lived up to the hype.

[Bear 1817]

With the success of Gareth Edward's GODZILLA hit, and the passionate support from the icon's fans, TOHO is jumping back into the game and are producing a secondary Godzilla series of their very own with a 2016 Release!

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/monstroushotzone/news/?a=112081

 

 

So it came something positive out of the american shitfilm after all. Awesome!

[Des 289]

It's been a while but here's some of what I watched in all that time.

3 Women (1977)

A wonderfully cast film with major parts for Shelley Duvall (known for The Shining a few years after this) and Sissy Spacek (Badlands, Carrie) playing unconventional characters who, while they have different personalities, have in common that they're lonely. Nobody appreciates or even acknowledges their existance. Shelley talks too much, Sissy talks too little. Towards the ending things can get a bit surrealistic. I got a 'Persona' vibe but that's my own interpretation. I don't think it's possible for anyone to really 'get' it. Just enjoy the ride. Good movie.

★★★☆☆

Winter's Bone (2010)

Uncomfortable movie that got a lot of praise and won a few awards at various competitions. Jennifer Lawrence is a struggling 17 year old with a not-very-talkative mother and two younger siblings to care for. Her father became a criminal and has disappeared. If he doesn't show up, the state will have to confiscate the family's possessions including their house. Only thing left to do is to go look for her father. It's a grim, slow movie that doesn't really go anywhere. One would expect an exciting quest to find her father but it ends up being rather one-dimensional portrayal of good vs. evil where she's the heroine and all the others are villains. I didn't get much from this movie. I felt it tried to portray this part of America realistically but I thought it was too stereotypical instead. Not too interesting.

★★☆☆☆

Blow Out (1981)

Very loosely based on director Antonioni's 'Blowup' of the 1960's, this 80's movie by de Palma opens very interestingly and slowly unfolds to be a very fascinating, exciting mystery-thriller kind of movie. Although many don't think of John Travolta too highly, I think he was excellent in this. The climax of the movie may be a little too 80's for some, but the events leading up to this point make it all exciting enough. The audience really knows what's at stake at this point and has invested enough into this movie that they would really care about what's happening on the screen, even if it does remind them of some more 80's (and early 90's) run-of-the-mill thrillers. All things considered it's an unexpectedly great movie.

★★★★☆

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Hyperactive fun children's movie with useless references to pop culture all of the time. And there is no plot. Some villain wants some orb thing to do something to rule or destroy the world and something or something something and something I couldn't really give a damn about. Opens with an irrelevant and surprisingly depressing (for a children's movie) flashback and then goes from one action scene to the next until the movie finally ends. There's something about the way the comic book characters talk that is completely off. When talking to eachother, figuring out what their next step should be, it never feels as if they're really talking to eachother. They're talking to the audience instead, informing them what the current situation is and what to expect next. It's very much like the The Hobbit movies in this regard. There is no genuine interaction between the characters, there's only exposition. For such a colorful and eventful movie (if you consider the shooting and mayhem real events that matter) it's rather stale. I can see why young teenagers would love this movie, but I can also imagine they would have completely forgotten what it was about the next morning. The character designs may be memorable, but everything else isn't.

★★☆☆☆

This is the End (2013)

The 'comedy' is vulgar, the storyline is painfully predictable (as are most of the jokes once the low level of this comedy has been established), the visuals are unimpressive, the product placements are unbearable. I heard this was funny but I wouldn't recommend this juvenile garbage to my worst enemy if I had one.

★☆☆☆☆

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (or Aguirre: The Wrath of God) (1972)

This was incredibly fascinating. The complete lack of dramatization almost gave it a documentary feel. What happens, happens. No need for stupid one-liners, upsweeping music by Hans Zimmer or any of that nonsense. Just beautiful visuals showing an expertly crafted adventure/drama. Perhaps for some this movie may feel distant, because the filmmakers never actively try to lure you in. They just let the film do this by itself. Director Warner Herzog is a filmmaker who trusts his film to be interesting enough for the viewers and does not allow cheap tricks and manipulative techniques to take control of the viewers. As this movie unfolds, you get more and more aware of the dangers of their journey. It was fascinating to become so involved with the people on screen even if you don't know too much about them. My only criticism here is on a few seconds of strange comedic moments. These moments didn't really work (although one could argue that these symbolize the desperation and confusion of the characters at this point). Stunning film.

★★★★☆

[Visutox 188]

Crows Explode -

 

Kinda disappointed by this one, cool movie without any further. Before watching it I was thinking that the movie was directed by Takashi Miike but as the movie was going on, I automatically concluded that this couldn't be a movie worthy of Sir Takashi (I was true). The film proposes many new faces including some useless characters, and most of them terribly lack of charisma. I've only been captivated by Goura (the coolest one, imo. Sad he hasn't a leading role like Takayuki Yamada in the two first movies), Fujiwara, Hiroki and maybe Gohei. Fights aren't as much numerous and enjoyable as the two previous movies' ones (though they still cool, kinda enjoyable and more realistic than those of CZ I & II). Plus, if Kazeo and Ryohei are supposed to be the successors of Genji and Serizawa respectively (charismatically speaking, of course), then I'd say "what an epic fail, huh". Although the length of the film is of 2 hours, Toshiaki Toyoda couldn't manage to deliver us a good movie as Takashi Miike did with the two previous. By that I mean that the unwinding of events is kinda fucked up, by times I feel like it goes in all directions incomprehensibly. So yeah, the allotted time is not really well managed imo. The OST of this movie is also poor (quantitatively speaking, not qualitatively), thankfully that Blow Your Mind by Dragon Ash is the ending song. The band had to raise the overall level of the movie, jeez. Obviously, I'm just kidding. I never read the manga before but if ever it's possible, I really hope that a 4th movie will come out (especially to see what happens with Rindaman). All in all, a decent movie but clearly not a worthy successor of the two past. Still, I recommend you to watch it to have your own opinion about it. The film is actually kinda enjoyable if you don't pay attention to the mentioned details. 

 

Crows Explode is the kind of movie that especially gives me an urge to watch Crows Zero I & II so that I can remember that these two movies were actually awesome, and why this 3rd one is not that good.

 

Btw, I'm just gonna leave this here. Dragon Ash for the fucking win!!

 

 

The Great Gatsby (2013) -

 

Good film. It wasn't easy for me to get into the movie but with the minutes it really captivated me and I really liked the story. Haven't read the book but this adaptation is certainly a good one. This movie has the kind of background that I really enjoy, sad that in a part of the movie the OST ruined the atmosphere I was slowly getting into (yes, I am referring to those rap/hip-hop songs). Nothing more to say except that it's a good movie that despite not being a masterpiece, this movie is enjoyable.

[Bear 1817]

Warring Clans - Wow, what a film this was! When putting this on I didn't know it was made by Kihachi Okamoto so I didn't have too high expectations, but as soon as I found out he had directed it I was not surprised by the high quality throughout this film. Kihachi Okamoto is the man behind masterpieces such as The Sword of Doom, Samurai Assassin and Kill!. However, this one was made earlier than those and are quite different. It's less serious and much more over the top. You've got samurai, ninja and fucking pirates in one and the same film. How cool is that?

 

This is a comedic action-adventure which is both fun, clever and exciting as fuck. Great direction by Okamoto, great acting, at times stunning cinematography and a cool, unexpected and kinda odd, jazzy soundtrack to top it all of. It's also got a fantastic spaghetti western-feeling to it, which I really liked, and it is cut in a way that makes non-matrtial artists look talented. Clever work. Awesome film!

 

 

Horrible Bosses - Rewatched this while eating yesterday. I still love it. Charlie Day is fantastic, Jennifer Aniston probably does her best ever role and Colin Farrell is hilarious. Great film.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Inglourious Basterds - Watched it for like the 5th time, still as great as ever. My favorite Tarantino movie by far. Everything in it is just so perfect, from the cast to the atmosphere and tense / funny scenes. It's a lengthy movie (especially by my standards) but they managed to not make me feel 2.5 hours pass by. Overall, just amazing!

 

[Rosebetz 302]

The Maze Runner

 

Perfect Movie!!

[Des 289]

The Elephant Man (1980)

My least favorite movie by David Lynch so far. It's too sentimental. We need to feel bad about the mistreatment of the title character, I get this, you don't need to shove it in my face. A few people care about this man while most of the common folks out in the streets think he is a monster. How perfectly subtle! There's not much else to this tale. The black and white photography was well done but the movie's main themes are much too black and white, much too simple for my liking.

★★☆☆☆

 

Deux jours, une nuit (2014)

The premise of this film is rather ridiculous. A company lets its workers vote on accepting a monetary bonus, but if they do one of their colleagues has to get fired. The majority votes for the bonus money. So this victimized woman, a very good role of Marion Cotillard, has about two days and one night (such an original title) to convince her fifteen or so colleagues to not vote for the money but to vote for her job instead in a revote. Trying to collect a majority of votes to keep her job, she visits all those people who for one reason or another need the money or were too scared to vote against the money due to peer pressure, etc. The ending of this leaves me dissatisfied. Whether or not she keeps her job, does she really want to work with these people? Is there any trust left? The movie barely gets into this subject but gets all emotional on the personal lives of the different characters instead. The unsteady camera 'to make it seem more real' and the rather ordinary looking images as a result do not do this film much good. Watch it to see Marion play another great part, but the drama is not very exciting and the visuals aren't very cinematic.

★★☆☆☆

 

Ben-Hur (1959)

This very long adventure-like movie lives up to its reputation of an 'epic' and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Touches many different themes, has a great visual presentation and offers an exciting journey in which you really root for the main character without losing sight of all the other roles. The chariot race is among the most celebrated movie scenes in history and I agree completely. This looks stunning on Blu-ray today and I can't even imagine the look on the faces of moviegoers back in 1959. The last half hour of the movie is where things start to go a little wrong. Suddenly a man named Jesus is raised to the foreground and looks to be brought in to act as a wizard with a magical wand to bring closure because the writers didn't know how to end things. Of course a movie with such mass appeal needs a happy ending, but could you have made it a bit less forced? It's a tame ending to an otherwise great adventure.

★★★★☆

 

Tootsie (1982)

Fun family oriented movie about a jobless actor dressing up as an older woman to audition for a part and then steals the show and gathers a big fan base. His double life causes some trouble and as a woman he falls in love with a woman who doesn't know he is really a man. It's a well directed lighthearted comedy that'll probably appeal to most viewers. It has a sappy ending but what else does one expect. The rest of the movie is good fun.

★★★☆☆

[ChaoticEnding 2070]

Bad Taste (1987)

[Visutox 188]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies -

 

As expected, a great movie. This film is mainly made of epic scenes, which are all totally enjoyable (despite the fact that some of them are kinda short). A 3rd part that concludes Bilbo Baggins' adventures with flourish. The visual effects are mindblowing, as always, the sequence of events take place in a comprehensible way and overall it is really well done. In short, a film that is worth to be watched at the movies. I'm looking forward the extended edition to come out and hopefully it will have 30 minutes of extra-scenes.

 

Peter Jackson and his team really did a good job during the last few years with the three movies, I congratulate them.

 

The Other Guys -

 

Boredom was killing me before I started watching this movie, and it really helped me. I spent a good moment even if this film is clearly not a masterpiece, still funny. Also, it's kinda disappointing that Dwayne Johnson doesn't figure as a main character, but whatever. I guess it's better like that.

 

Just Go with It -

 

Watched it yesterday night. Adam Sandler (not a bad producer, btw) and Jennifer Aniston are two actors that I really appreciate and as I had nothing to watch, I decided to go ahead with this movie. I enjoyed it, not boring at all and it's a decent romantic comedy film imo. I think I could watch it again and it'd still be funny.

[Bear 1817]

Safety Not Guaranteed - A sweet, fun and very charming romantic comedy with beautiful direction and a good cast. The dialogue was perhaps the best thing about the film. It felt so natural, and it was so well-witten. I also fell in love with Aubrey Plaza during this film.

 

[Bear 1817]

Batman - Tim Burton's Batman is still the best superhero film out there, though it should be said I still need to rewatch Batman Returns. But until then this daek, gothic piece of superhero action will remain the best. And Jack Nicholson's Joker is obviously the superior one, and he steals every single scene he's in. Crazy and over the top, but not out of place or annoying like that. Very impressive. Keaton is also brilliant as Bruce Wayve/Batman, and obviously way better than Christian Bale.

 

Everything in this film works for me, especially the set designs, visuals and the brilliant atmosphere. Dark, adult and cooler than ice. Amazing!

 

[Bear 1817]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - A very nice ending to a very nice trilogy. It is not free of faults, not even close, and despite me being very disappointed with Peter Jackson and all he's done wrong with them, I just can't help but properly enjoy these films. They're action-packed adventure film with lovely characters, great atmosphere and it's set in a universe I really, really enjoy.

 

The CGI is once again better than in the previous films, but it's still not amazing and it's still way too much of it. And this is the biggest flaw in the trilogy. It feels a bit too flat and soulless a bit too often. It just lacks that proper punch that makes it a top tier film.

 

While I didn't mind Tauriel as a character, the love story had nothing to do in these films. Just. Meh. Didn't add anything to the story.

 

It is also sad to see Peter Jackson make the same mistakes as he did with LotR. Yes, I am thinking abou the Legolas does retarded, over the top and out of character and pace things that not only feels stupid, but also looks stupid because it is so poorly done. Why, Jackson? Why?

 

I could mention more flaws, but I won't now.

 

However, the scenes in Dol Guldrur (minus the scenes where Galadriel suddenly looks pathetic) were amazing. Especially the fight. It was awesome! I also thought Smaug were done even better in this film, and he felt threatening and huge. Have to admit I had hoped for a lot more Necromancer, though. But it wasn't bad. Cool as fuck!

 

But all in all I think Peter Jackson has done well in capturing the feeling of visiting Middle Earth, and he's done a good job capturing the spirit of The Hobbit and Tolkien's writing. It's not nearly as good as LotR and ihey're highly flawed, and in the end, with little work, this trilogy could've been so much better. But don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed myself during these films. I really have.

 

 

 

Looking forward to the extended version. A lot!

 

 

Edit: I forgot to say that I don't think Peter Jackson has fully comited to these films. I just don't get the impression that he's put his heart 100% into this project, and did it more out of preasure that he just HAD to do it than out of passion and love. And I think that is part of the reason why they did not become as good as they both could and should have.

[Bear 1817]

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Whenever a new Studio Ghibli film is announed I get excited as fuck, and when there's two films announced I get even more excited, especially considering this is the first time that has happened since I was born. And before I was born it only happened once back in 1988, and the funny fact here is that both times the directors have been Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, It's a bit odd to be honest.

 

However, during the first few minutes of The Tale of Princess Kaguya I thought to myself, "what the fuck is this childish, lackluster childrens book-like visual style doing here?", and I went from "OMG!" to "huh?" pretty fast. But as the story got going, and the princess was brought into the story, I really started to understand why they'd gone with a visual style like this. It really fits the story and the atmosphere created here, and I went from not being impressed by the visual style to adore it in 15 minutes. And from there on this was nothing but joy.

 

The animation is smooth, detailed, rich and warm, but not polished and feelingless in any way imaginable. There's so much ove and passion put into the animation here, and not once do you get the feeling that they rushed a single scene is the film. It's... unbelieveable. Absolutely breathtaking!

 

The visual style is, as I already said, very childish, as if it is drawn for a childrens book. While disappointed to begin with, it didn't take long for me to understand why they went with this style, because it really does fit the animation and the story and the whole atmosphere. And despite being childish, it's very detailed and the colors are beautiful. But as with the animation, it is not too polished in any way. It's warm and delicious. It's a very clever choice by the people behind this film.

 

The story? Amazing. Heartwarming, fun, sad... it's everything you'd want a film to be. It's so well-written, so amazingly made into a film. And the characters? Again, unbelieveable. Som of the best characters I've ever seen in an animated film. There's so much to grab onto here, but story- and character-wise. Very mature.

 

And the score by Joe Hisaishi is fantastic as usual. Magnificent!

 

This is hands down one of the finest Ghibli films to this date, and the score of 100% based on 57 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes is actualy well-deserved. For my own sake, it's not a fully perfect film, but it's not far from being that. I feel sure that this is a film that with time will be remembered as one of the finest animated films ever made. 9,5/10

[Visutox 188]

Case 39 - 

 

Was bored so I tried it, clearly not a masterpiece but I really enjoyed it. Found it funny most than anything else though. Love the peaceful face of that cute little girl, and what she turns out to be.

[Bear 1817]

My top 10 of 2014:

 

1. Yellow

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past

3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

4. Blue Ruin

5. The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears

6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

7. Snowpiercer

8. Stage Fright

9. 22 Jump Street

10. The Sacrament

 

 

I haven't seen too many films of 2014, and I have most likely forgotten some, but those are my top 10 for now. Films I am looking forward to and have lots of faith in include The Wind Rises, The Guest, Nightcrawler, The Badabook, The Raid 2: Berandal, What We Do In The Shadows, Inherent Vice, The Editor, Musaranas, John Wick, A Most Violent Year and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, and I expect at least 4-5 of these to make it onto my top 10 list. The Wind Rises, The Guest, Nightcrawler and The Raid 2: Berandal are almost a part of my list long before I've seen them. That's how much faith I have in them.

 

Decided not to include documentaries.

[Bear 1817]

Started on Orphan Black last friday and just watched the second episode of season 2 yesterday. I'm very impressed so far, and I thought season 1 was just great. It's a lot more mature and dark than what I'd expected, and Tatiana Maslany is fantastic. I do get a bit Alias/Dark Angel/Nikita-feeling of the whole show, but it comes of as more complex and better written, especially character-wise.

I also like the fact that they don't go for the whole "one big plot for the whole season with a new subplot for every episode"-thing that way too many shows have used over the years, but rather have one big plot that they follow. Very happy about that. Exciting!

 

[indigo 389]

Rurouni Kenshin - I didn't have very high expectations knowing how "good" (read: horrible) most movies based on anime have turned out to be (do I have to mention Dragon Ball live action?) but as soon as I saw the opening scene of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman tan I was convinced that this wouldn't be a low-budget, half-hearted adaptation. The settings look nice and characters are not too over-the-top but they're still interesting.

 

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno - The second part of the Rurouni Kenshin movie trilogy. Pretty soon you can notice that this is darker than the first film. The first one had more comedy, there's still some funny lines or jokes etc. but the mood is more serious now. Another thing that's different is that Kyoto Inferno is better. Okay, it might be less realistic than the first, but it's more entertaining. I like that Kenishi is having some struggles and things ain't so easy for him this time. The settings are great again and so on. There's some CGI near the end that bugged my eyes a little but it's not a big deal.

 

Now I just have to see the final, third movie.