Last movie you saw.

[Bear 1817]

Dope - Been looking forward to this for quite some time, and despite huge expectations I was not let down. It's so well-written, and the story, its characters and the dialogue are all truly great. Well-directed and superbly acted. Really fucking cool film! Might be the best coming of age film I've ever seen as well, to be honest. It just clicked so well with me. Charming, witty, exciting and very fun. It's very witty in fact. Had me in tears a couple of times. So funny, man. I love the blend of 1990's hip-hop culture and modern culture as well. It's a crash, but it works so well.

 

And all this is helped by a superb soundtrack. You get some awesome, original songs written and produced by Pharrell, as well as classic tracks by A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Korn, Public Enemy, Onyx and more. It's so god damn cool, man!

 

Second best of the year for me, only beaten by Bone Tomahawk so far. Most excellent!

 

[JukaForever 758]

Hateful Eight in 70mm

It is pretty the movie you come to expect and want from Tarantino. Well worth the time and admission.

[Bear 1817]

I'm so jelly of everyone who gets to see The Hateful Eight on 70mm. They won't show it in Trondheim, so I'd have to go to Oslo. So mad about this shit.

 

A Most Violent Year - Fantastic film, and Oscar Isaac is really starting to build himself a proper good reputation as an actor. As with the even newer film Ex Machina, he completely steals the show with a brilliant performance. The film though, was so far from what I had expected. I'd expected a standard, but very good as my expectations were very high, gangster flick in the vein of classic 70's and 80's gangster films. It's not really that at all.

 

To me, this film i all about our main character and his wife, and the study of them together. Highlight of the film were more or less every single scene with Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain together. Both were fantastic! Their characters were great. Overall a superb crime-drama.

 

 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Another good and entertaining Guy Ritchie flick, but as with everything he's made after RocknRolla it's never more than just good, decent fun. It's the type of film you'd expect from Guy Ritchie, but the story just isn't good enough, and he's a bit let down by his actors. Henry Cavill is as stiff as ever in his delivery, but at least it suits him better here than in the awful Man of Steel, where his performance was so far from what was needed, and Armie Hammer just overdoes it most of the time. Alicia Vikander however is fantastic, just like she was in Ex Machina. Thought Elizabeth Debicki and Luca Calvaniwas very good too.

 

Now, I've only seen a couple of episoes of the TV-series, but it didn't look like this had too much in common with the TV-series at all, though. Aside from the character and premise, it's pretty far from it IMO.

 

Anyway, I was entertained. But I do expect a lot more from Guy Ritchie. I'll gladly admit that.

 

[Flame-X 441]

Just came back from seeing Star Wars the Force Awakens.

 

Very entertaining film, it mirrors the first original movie fairly well. I do have some criticisms but I'll save that for later.

[Bear 1817]

Shaolin Prince / Iron Fingers of Death - Very fun, slightly wuxia-inspired martial arts film by choreographer Chia Tang who choreographed well over 100 films, and as expected the choreography is both fun, good and very interesting. It's creative and cool. Chia Tang only directed three films, and while this was his first attempt it's a very impressive one. At times weird, but very fun. The film stars Ti Lung, Derek Yee and Jason Pai Piao, and all are great. Especially Jason Pai Piao as our villain Ninth Lord. A truly cool-as-fuck villain.

 

THere's some hilarious comedy thrown in too, mainly by three, silly-as-fuck monks. Anyway, great film!

 

 

Shaolin Rescuers - A fairly standard, but really god damned good martial arts flick by my man Chang Cheh, with the Venom Mob and Jason Pai Piao. The opening scene are incredible, like in a lot of these films. A number of figures battle the evil Priest Pai Mei. Lots of amazing martial arts battles, both training sessions and proper fights, humor, a great villain and much more.

 

The last fight is incredible, and esily the highlight here. Another superb Chang Cheh film! Hero!

 

[Lestat 2167]

What goes through people's minds when they spoil important parts of movies for others on the internet? Is it peer-pressure? Is it an intentional need to be an absolute unnecessary prick online, so they think it will increase the fame of their irrelevant internet-personality or supposed toughness? 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Daddy's Home - I can't tell you how much I cringed at the trailer for this new Will Ferrell / Mark Wahlberg comedy, but in the end it was actually nice! Not even like "yyyeah, okay" nice but "this is pretty hilarious" nice. Granted, the story is something that's been done a couple hundred times before, and it could fit into a random episode of a funny sitcom series, but still, it was enjoyable all throughout. Ferrell's and Wahlberg's characters were funny too, even tho I'm always on the fence with the former (some great past comedic roles and some absolutely shitty ones). All in all, surprisingly good!

 

[Bear 1817]

I recently watched Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (10/10), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (10/10) and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (9/10) to get meself ready for the new film, and I am as big of a fan in 2016 and I was in 1997. I obviously love all three films, and I think Return of the Jedi is really udnerrated. Might be because I never had a problem with the Ewoks. I'm not a big fan of them, but they don't bother me either. Anyway, these films are lots of fun!

 

Shaolin Mantis - Old chool martial arts flick by Chia-Liang Liu, starring David Chiang, Lily Li, Chia Yung Liu, Norman Chu and Cecilia Wong. It's got a rather complex story with lots of drama and a long, nice build-up before it takes the martial arts fan inside of you to a trip to heaven with amazingly choreographed fights, a fan-fuckin-tastic training session and even more great fighting. Yeah, I really liked this film. Thought it was superb.

 

Nice cameo by Gordon Liu too!

 

[beni 2149]

Tried Treasure Planet yesterday for dinner. Hadn't tried a movie while eating a meal in a long time. It was a pleasant surprise, I've only been repeating old Disney movies I had watched as a kid but nothing I missed the chance in doing so, and that pains me when it comes to TP. It was a worthwhile movie but I doubt I'd bother watching it again unlike Disney ones I've watched for years. I bet I would've held it closer to me if I had tried it as a child when it came out. ;; Such depressing self.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The Revenant - I was quite hyped for this movie, and in some aspects it delivered, in others not so much. First of all, the visuals were amazing, it was beautifully shot, showing awesome images of wilderness (I heard they only used natural light when shooting the film, how cool is that?). The actors' performances were impeccable and the characters they portrayed were pretty nice too, tho not really fleshed-out. Like, at all. Some basic info to kickstart the story, then that's it. Also, the whole thing was sooo daaamn looong and most of the runtime consisted of crawling, hobbling around, grunting, groaning and whimpering. Haven't seen so much suffering (bordering on the ridiculous) since The Passion of the Christ, lol. The movie wasn't bad tho, like how should I say this... it's not something you watch for 'enjoyment' or light entertainment. All in all, overly long, not enough substance, but looks and feels great for the most part. Might watch it a 2nd time if I have a chance, cuz I'm still kinda conflicted about it. xD

 

[Bear 1817]

Tried Treasure Planet yesterday for dinner. Hadn't tried a movie while eating a meal in a long time. It was a pleasant surprise, I've only been repeating old Disney movies I had watched as a kid but nothing I missed the chance in doing so, and that pains me when it comes to TP. It was a worthwhile movie but I doubt I'd bother watching it again unlike Disney ones I've watched for years. I bet I would've held it closer to me if I had tried it as a child when it came out. ;; Such depressing self.

 

Treasure Planet is such an underrated movie IMO. Imaginative, funny, charming and amazingly futuristic and retro at the same time. The characters aren't all that great, but everything else is good and the animation is superb.

 

I also like how adult-esque it is. A very mature film, if you ask me.

[Bear 1817]

John Wick - Very nice neo-noir action with Keanu Reeves, and a huge surprise. I expected a decent enough monday entertainer, but this was so much more than that. The neo-noir atmoshere is incredible and very 60's french-esque, and the action sequences is top, top notch. Very un-american and awesome-as-fuck. The creators of the film must be huge fans of 80's and early 90's Hong Kong cinema, because the action sequences oozes of Hong Kong cinema of the past. Now, the film isn't very original, and Keanu Reeves still in't the best actor around, something which is very visible in the emotional scenes, but he does very well as a hard motherfucker out for revenge. The supporting cast is very good too.

 

And I can't be wrong when I am saying that there's something very French, Italian, Chinese and to some degree also Japanese and South-Korean about this film. I got a serious John Woo, Jean Pierre Melville, Sergio Leone, Park Chan wook and Akira Kurosawa feeling from it all. Some of it in the characterization, some of it from the action sequences, some of it from the visuals, some of it from the noir-feeling and so on.  lot of influences I'd say were clear (without actually knowing if these were any influence at all), but treated with much respect. Loved it!

 

Reeves' best film since Dracula, a film where he was the weakest link. But the film is enjoyable as fuck, and so was this!

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Glad you enjoyed it, it's one of my favorite action flicks in recent years. I felt the Korean vibe too!

 

By the way, they're currently filming the sequel.  (shooting began in October)

[Bear 1817]

I know, and I am really looking forward to it even though a sequel isn't really nessecary at all. I hope we get some other influences in it, and that it's a different type of film with different atmosphere, while keeping the spirit of the first one. I have to admit that I do hope they keep the Hong Kong action sequences, though, because this was among the best use of it we've seen in western films till now. So well-made and cool.

 

While I enjoy regular gun fights a lot, gun fu is something special to me, growing up watching mid 80's-early 90's Hong Kong action flicks and so on, and it's just very appealing visually. It just offers a lot more to the viewer, especially to someone like me who's very much into martial arts to begin with.

 

Gun fu is beautiful, it's exciting, it's stylish and it's often surrealistic and out of this world silly, but still so cool. It's like a beautifully choreographed, sexy and poetic dance that just turns me the fuck on. Need more good gun fu in action films.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Yeah, the 'gun fu' scenes were awesome! Gave it a good feel, different from your usual Western action movies.

[Flame-X 441]

 

By the way, they're currently filming the sequel.  (shooting began in October)

 

I prefer to see a prequel to John Wick where he was at his prime.

 

The whole premise felt like a video game where he's trying to gain back all the skills.

[Bear 1817]

Slow West - Minimalistic arthouse-esque western film with a lot of atmosphere, elegance and class. Now while the film does come off as something very familiar, it feels unique and different. It offers emotions rarely seen in westerns, and I like that. It is also beautifully shot and superbly acted. Both our leads, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender, is impressive as fuck here, and their chemistry is so great. Powerful performances!

 

The ending was brilliant too. Fucking hell, man! The salt scene was excellent for so many reasons. I can't start to explain how good that particular scene was.

 

It's a bit of a slow-burner and surrealistic at times so this sure won't please everybody, but if you're into westerns I'd recommend you to try it out anyway. So good!

 

 

Gone Girl - Lots have been said about this, and rightfully so. Fincher's best film since Zodiac IMO, and only beaten by Se7en and Zodiac in his filmography. Nice story, and the gender roles is a bit different from what we usually see in films like this, which felt very refreshing. Rosamund Pike is amazing, and Ben Affleck does his best acting ever.

 

Very good!

 

[Shir0 1303]

John Wick -

 

Keanu Reeves still in't the best actor around, something which is very visible in the emotional scenes, but he does very well as a hard motherfucker out for revenge. The supporting cast is very good too.

You're review made me want to re-watch it andI fully agree with you lol

also awesome news about the sequel, thanks for the info Jig!

[Original Saku 1593]

Watched in the heart of the sea a few nights ago with some friends and it was pretty decent I like how it wasn't technically about the book moby dick but about the true story moby dick was based off of. so that was a interesting aspect and caught me by surprise.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

No Leo's "The Revenant" Hype in here? My god.......

[Bear 1817]

All Is Lost - Super intense survival thriller/drama by writer-director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) with with the one and only Robert Redford as our main character, a character who also happens to be the only one in the film. This character also speaks very little, so what we have here is a film with only one cast members and which is almost dialogue-free. Now, "that sounds so boring" is probably your first throught here, but you are wrong. This film was excellent! It's so simple and straight-forward, but it's so powerful and Robert Redford is most brilliant. He's incredible. His facial expressions and body language is excellent, and everything about the way he acts in the films just sends a wave of emotions towards you, be it anger, sadness, disappointment, relief or whatever. He IS this film!

 

It's intense, it's dramatic, it's exciting and very claustrophobic because of the way it is shot. A must-see!

 

 

'71 - Intense thriller that's superbly directed, well-acted and offers a lot of intense moments full of suspense and excitement. It comes of as realistic, and while the survival aspect of the film stands for the intense moments, the dirty, political aspect is probably the best part of the film. The film is about the Troubles back in the early 70's in Irland, and while I am no specialist on the topic, I thought it came off as a very netrual way. Toere's no good VS bad here, and no side is portrayed as the bad one. I loved that!

 

Also, I loved the way it's shot and the way it looks. It looks like avpolroid picture in many ways. Lots of brown and orange. A pleasure to the eyes.

 

[Original Saku 1593]

Went and saw The Revenant last night at the cinema. I have to say that I was really impressed.. I really really enjoyed the way the movie was shot in natural lighting and all of the scenes were shot magnificently. It really gave off this genuine feeling while watching almost like it was real. There was also a ton of symbolism in the movie which I found to be really cool and it worked as intended. both leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy were perfect, great acting all around. A very brutal yet very emotional movie.

[Bear 1817]

Batman: Year One - Very good animated adaption of Frank Miller's classic graphic novel of the same name. It's very faithful to the source material and if you've read the comic you've more or less seen this, but I thought it was very good and very entertaining. Overall very good in all ways, and Bryan Cranston did a fantastic role here. Completely badass!

 

 

White House Down - 2013 saw the release of no more than two films where the white house and president is under attack, and people have constantly been comparing these two films. I can understand why, but I will not compare this to Olympus Has Fallen as they are a bit different. Roland Emmerich' action-thriller has a lot more in common with Die Hard to be quite honest. Now nothing here is as good as in Die Hard, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Silly and over the top actioner that woks fairly well if you want some brainless popcorn entertainment.

 

You also had that "iconic" scene here with the US flag going down. Fucking hilarious, just like in Olympus Has Fallen. But this didn't feel so damn patriotic, though. A bit, but less than OHF.

 

[Bear 1817]

True Grit - Brilliant western remake of the classic 1969 John Wayne classic by the same name, by the Coen Brothers, with a superb cast including Jeff Bridges in one of his best roles ever, young, impressive Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon who I think is very underrated. I do think the original i slightly better, but that does not mean this is not good. Because this film is fantastic, and it's different enough that you can watch both back to back without getting bored. The original is Rooster's film, while this is more shared between Mattie and Rooster. And it's slightly more epic too, more of an adventure while the original has a more classic western feeling to it.

 

All in all a must-see for fans of western films. Great film! Be sure to watch the original too, guys. As much as I hate the patriotic bullshit of John Wayne, the guy was a class actor and the film a true classic.

 

[Bear 1817]

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief - Fantastic documentary about fucking Scientology, with lots of great info and many cool stories. First half, with a lot of focus on L. Ron Hubbard, is easily better than the second haf, though. Very interesting, and it's clear that the man himself was mentally unstable. And I couldn't help but laughing my ass off when they revealed the last steps in Scientology where it's so clear that the core of it is just taken out of his great imagination. He just wrote a sci-fi novel in his head and made a fucking religious movement out of it. Genius! As mentally unstable and sick as he was, the man was a genius. It takes a genius to pull off what he did, and you have to respect him for that as well as his dedication. And I have no problem believing that he himself actually believed in these things. So hands down to him for that. But the followers? Idiots!

 

The second part which is more about how the Church of Scientology treat its members and scam them, is also very good, very interesting and all that.

 

It's a very craftful documentary with itneresting info, and a documentary that is in some ways scary. The stupidity of humans are once again revealed, and it's scary to see how far people are willing to go for something as stupid as this, and also how easy they are convinced to join something like Scientology. Frightening!

 

 

American Sniper - Ever since my childhood I've been a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, both the actor and director. So while he has offered some disappointments, I am always looking forward to a new Eastwood film.

 

American Sniper is at times very good, but for most part the good scenes just comes in flashes every now and then. While Bradly Cooper is impressive in his role, he's the only proper character here. He's the only one that feels like a human being. The rest, even his wife, doesn't come off as persons. They're just... statists? The fuck? So odd, man. The action scenes are tight as fuck, tense and very cool. But they don't come often enough.

 

The lack of moral courage is also quite shocking. It's all about being tough and badass and give them "sand-nigger savages what they deserve." It does touch upon the subject, but only slightly. At the end of the day it's a biographical war-drama without no depth. It is. Entertaining for what it is, but it no masterpiece or even great film. It's OK. I believe you gotta be a silly, amercan patriot to consider this a great film.

 

And do I have to mention the doll? Christ. It would've looked more real if you had a fully grown up man portraying the baby. Shocking!